The only known signed photo of Jesse James, the notorious outlaw from Missouri, will go to auction next week in Chicago.
The photo shows James with slicked back hair and gazing away from the camera at an angle. It’s signed J.W. James. (His middle name was Woodson).
Mary Williams with Leslie Hindman Auctioneers says she was skeptical until she saw the signature first-hand and noted its similarity to a letter James is said to have signed.
“It’s incredibly similar to an item being offered by History for Sale. It’s a two-page letter from Jesse James where he signs on the front with his full name, Jesse James, and on the back he signs J.W. James like on our photograph, and the two are extremely similar,” Williams said.
The photo is expected to sell at the auction next Tuesday for at least $20,000.
Not everyone is sold on its authenticity.
Gary Chilcote, the director of the Jesse James Home Museum in St. Joseph, says the outlaw rarely signed anything, because there was a reward on his head.
“What do we compare it with? That’s the problem in determining the authenticity of a signature,” Chilcote said. “You have to have something to compare it with that you know is correct, and it’s pinning that down that is the hard part.”
Chilcote says a letter James signed under the pseudonym Thomas Howard was sold several years ago.
Jesse James was shot in his home on April 3, 1882 at the age of 34.
