James Beard's Autograph Mystery Solved
Jul 10, 2010 | From the kitchen of Rose
Back in November I wrote the following posting:
42 years ago, I worked as a secretary in the public relations department of Reynolds Metals Company. I held the key to the storage closet that contained a huge quantity of aluminum foil and plastic wrap, and it was part of my job to send them out to the press. As a special bonus, my boss gave me the present of a series of cooking classes at James Beard. Of course I was ecstatic and made sure to add Jim to the list of recipients of the foil and plastic wrap.
About a decade later I became one of the founders of the New York Association of Cooking School Teachers. Jim had just written another book, so we decided to hold a meeting and book signing at his home. Some of us sat in chairs; I remember sitting on the floor at his feet. We were encouraged to ask questions -- I remember mine was pertaining to my dislike of ultra-pasteurized cream. Then we formed a line to have him sign our books that we had just purchased. I was very anxious to see what he would write in mine since we had a more personal relationship than most (all that foil and plastic wrap).
There were so many of us, I had to wait about 20 minutes but was rewarded with a very lengthy scrawl. I went to the side of the room to enjoy it in private. To my amazement, I couldn't make out a single word of the scribble! I brought it over to Richard Nemo, who was his assistant. (I used to be able to read my boss's handwriting better than he could read his own.) But Richard said: You'll have to ask Mr. Beard; I can't read it either.! So I stood back in line for another 15 minutes, opened the book to the inscription, and said to Jim: "What did you write here?" He studied it for a few seconds, looked up, and with a half smile said: Damned if I know!
After something like 32 years I finally found the book and the autograph in question! (I have well over 1000 books so it wasn't easy but I was determined.) It turns out it was just one-word--the last word--that was indecipherable. Here's a photograph of the autograph in question. See if you can figure it out. I sent it to Woody and unbelievably he solved the mystery! I'll give you a few days first to see if you can guess.
And here is the very first cookbook I bought in 1962 for all of 75 cents! I had no idea who James Beard was but he looked so cheerful and as though he loved to eat--don't you think?
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Rose Levy Beranbaum in reply to comment from Esther B. Mozo
05/12/2011 07:24 PM
esther, i don't think the letters look like the word discoveries but i do think your son has a great creative imagination as that's what jim SHOULD have written!
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Esther B. Mozo
05/12/2011 07:17 PM
My son, 13, who just learned the value of writing his words legibly, has taken an interest in James Beard's undecipherable autograph. He thinks (and I agree) that the last word is "discoveries." With hopes for future discoveries. It still doesn't make much sense to me, but maybe it does in the context of the book that James Beard autographed.
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Kathy
09/03/2010 11:56 PM
Oh my gosh! I was just googling 'James Beard autograph' as today I picked up a copy of his Theory and Practice of Good Cooking (at Goodwill for $3.29).
Eager to have a little read and not in a rush to get home, I opened the book in the car and saw what looked like it might be his signature (especially if his real name was Jeremiah...his 'James' is very very messy!)
So I came to the computer to see if I could find an image of his signature. Your post here confirms it for me! WOW. I am so happy!
Oh and I think he wrote 'lessons' in your inscriptions, that that 'd' is an 'l'. He seems to have had a tendency to add what looks like a lot of letters onto words.
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ellen in reply to comment from Rose Levy Beranbaum
08/03/2010 01:14 AM
"Rose, With hopes of future deservedly."
What does THAT mean?
Um... only if English was not his mother tongue and it's a rough translation from say... Kanamit! That's not English syntax -- and I guarantee that's not the word.
Back to square one.
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ellen
08/03/2010 01:00 AM
So, how is the mystery solved if you haven't told us what the word is?
I can't find the SOLUTION anywhere. What did he write?
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Reeni
07/19/2010 09:16 PM
I think it's discussions... he doesn't dot his i's (or perhaps it's because he was doing a good many inscriptions) and there don't seem to be any letters with ascenders or descenders after the "des"... my second guess, like Beth, would be discoveries.
I don't have any professional decifering experience, but my dad was a doctor and I could read his handwriting when no-one else could; I'm a teacher and that skill has come in handy when grading exams!... I won't even say how many variations on the spelling of "panary fermentation" I've seen.
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Rose in reply to comment from Beth
07/19/2010 02:16 PM
by the way, he was quite old and not well at the time.
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Beth in reply to comment from Rose Levy Beranbaum
07/19/2010 01:51 PM
Rose, I think I'll keep working on this one. I can see why Woody reads it that way, but.... However, I also know that things DON'T necessarily make sense, esp when written at the spur of the moment.
It's been a fun game, one all too familiar to me in my line of work. I've been trying to read one particular word for over a year now. Very frustrating.
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Rose in reply to comment from Anonymous
07/19/2010 01:44 PM
ok! you've all been very patient and made some clever guesses: here's what woody came up with and though it doesn't make sense entirely it does appear to look like the word DESERVEDLY!!!
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Anonymous in reply to comment from Cremebrulee
07/19/2010 12:56 PM
We give up!
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Cremebrulee
07/15/2010 11:49 AM
Rose - with hopes for future desuetudes?
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Julie
07/15/2010 11:42 AM
Based on his handwriting in the rest of the inscription, it looks as though the second half of the word could be "creams", but still can't decipher the first half. Do tell us!
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Josh
07/15/2010 09:31 AM
Soo...what does it say, Rose?! I'm dying to know haha
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Darlene
07/13/2010 09:17 AM
Could it be dessert recipes? Too obvious?
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Jose
07/11/2010 09:43 PM
The first three letters are: des. The last letter is also an s, which you can tell by comparing it with the last letter of "hopes" because they look exactly the same.
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Melinda
07/11/2010 05:12 PM
escapades?
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Rose in reply to comment from Rachel
07/11/2010 01:22 PM
would it were so!
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Rachel
07/11/2010 01:06 PM
Could it be discoveries?
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Beth in reply to comment from Rose Levy Beranbaum
07/11/2010 11:21 AM
Unfortunately, most of our expertise is in deciphering old Italian, but my husband's writing is also difficult, and I often have to try to read it years after it was written. Beard's writing is quite difficult. If you didn't know that he had signed "James," it would be almost impossible to know that. I also wondered about "destinations" for the final word, but that doesn't seem to fit either. This would be a great example to show to a paleography class!
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Rose in reply to comment from Matthew
07/11/2010 11:10 AM
oh matthew--too funny! i bet he's up there laughing his head off!
after your and beth's response i'm feeling better that in all these years i never figured it out. and i used to be able to read my boss's handwriting better than he could. of course he was a doctor (i was a medical secretary).
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Matthew
07/11/2010 11:06 AM
"With hopes for future foil and plastic wrap"
I puzzled over this for a while and could never decipher it. I hope Woody will also share how long it took him to figure this one out, or how he did it!
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Rose
07/11/2010 10:52 AM
very clever beth!
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Beth
07/11/2010 10:47 AM
My husband and I have been puzzling about this. We're usually pretty good at deciphering handwriting - we have to do it in our work pretty frequently. I've tried a lot of possibilities,none of which can be right. Here's a humorous idea that combines the best of Rose's skills: dessertations. Too bad it can't say that!
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