What’s better than a signed copy of your favorite book? Why, an inscribed copy of your favorite book, of course, preferably straight from the hand of your favorite author. While some authors tend to sign books with a simple “my best” or “thanks for reading,” others push the envelope a little more, and — especially with an author notorious for his or her humor — a signature seeker may be blessed with a quip, a bizarre turn of phrase, or even (the holy grail) a little doodle. After the jump, Flavorwire has tracked down a selection of famous authors’ amusing missives, drawings, and insults (produced upon request) as written in the first pages of their books. Check them out after the jump, and feel free to add your own in the comments.
Photo Credit: Lili Rosboch/Bloomberg
From Ray Bradbury to Alec McCabe in 1989.
Photo Credit: Rare Antiquarian Books
“Words of wisdom: A dog as big as Cujo was nothing to get screwing around with. Not unless you wanted to spend the rest of your life wiping your ass with a hook. Best wishes, Stephen King 6/22/89.”
Photo Credit: Megan Snider
Photo Credit: Eliot Katz
Allen Ginsberg’s goofy little doodles — one of many.
From Vladimir Nabokov to his trapped butterfly, er, wife. Photo Credit: The Nabokov Museum
Photo Credit: Kristie Krabe
Photo Credit: Hannah Zimmerman
Photo Credit: yogineo
From the excellent Insulted by Authors series. Photo Credit: Bill Ryan
[via Insulted by Authors]
Another from the same series. Photo Credit: Bill Ryan
[via Insulted by Authors]
A final insult. Photo Credit: Bill Ryan
[via Insulted by Authors]
Inscription from Mark Twain inside his book The Stolen White Elephant, given to Mrs. Helena Rowe Fuller Crooks. [via]
From Winston Churchill to Neville Chamberlain in a copy of Churchill’s Marlborough. His Life and Times. “Perhaps you may like to take refuge in the Eighteenth Century.” [via]