I was lucky enough to be able to obtain a signed copy of the autograph card, (or Autogram as they say in Germany), via Ebay (They often appear on there) and here is a scan of it:
Of course, the card was signed in the 1980's, and this particular example states: "Für Oliver von" in ballpoint, and "Rosa" in marker pen. I guess the name was signed on the cards several dozen at a time, for mailing out in response to written requests. The personal message, if genuine, was likely added in ballpoint later, as the request arrived. You could ask for autographs by post, as the reverse of this card implies:
Clearly, it is hard to be certain this is actually signed by Rosa herself, but there are a few clues. Firstly, by comparing the writing of the main signature in marker pen, and the smaller text written in ball point. There is only one common character between the two, the lower case "o", and in my view, both exhibit the same style of writing, swooping anti-clockwise then curving to the right to pick up the next letter. Also, there is an example of her writing which I have saved from the internet (although again, we have to assume it is hers) and it is this:
Although this is written in upper case, there are clearly similarites, including the letter "F" which is upper case on the autograph,and the "O" in her signature, which despite not being joined on to the next letter, still exhibits the curl at the end of the anti-clockwise sweep.
I am satisfied that the card has been written by her, and though not made out to me, it is still a nice thought that I have here a card that she once held.
I
have other autographs, notably Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues on
an LP cover, Ray Thomas, on a Box Set cover, and several examples of
Steve Hackett, as he signs pre-orders of new albums sold via his
website. I've only missed one since 1997!
I also have a signed
photo of Steve and I together (That took a little planning!). But
this card is special, for I never thought I would have it, for
obvious reasons!
If you have a copy of her autograph, and would like to include it on this page, email me and I will happily consider it. However, I think we have enough examples to establish with 100% certainty that they are really written by her.
Here are other examples:
From another Ebay Auction in November 2008:
And yet another from another Ebay auction in December 2008:
And yet another from March 2009:
Although all have slight differences, it's clearly the same hand that has written them all. I would say there's no doubt they are her signature, and if you have one that looks like it (most probably written in Blue felt tip pen) you can be pretty sure it's genuine.
If all that is not enough to convince you, here are a couple of photos which appear to have been taken during filming of a TV show called "Auf Los Gehts Los" which were recently (Early 2009) auctioned on Ebay. The photos include the watermark of the seller, Samler2004, but both also include the signature of Rosa, and the date, 2nd April 1985. Again, that signature has the same style, so I guess that pretty much seals it, these are all her signature.
