Riddle me this.

Why is a book signed by the author worth more than the book, unsigned?

It isn’t, to you, but it is to them.

You know that your signature isn’t worth any more than the ink you use to sign it. But, your message and your signature designate this book as meant especially for this reader. This copy, separate from all the other identical copies out there, is the one meant especially for you. I give you my word, in person.

I guess it is odd, then, that first editions signed by their famous authors and handed down over the years still hold their value. That signing, decades or perhaps centuries old, was not meant for today’s owner or reader. But it was witnessed. It is testimony of the hand and heart that wrote these words and set them down for people to use or discard as they will. It is a message in a bottle, a hand-written letter, a personal appeal, where before it was just print on a page.

What would a book, signed by the author of all time, be worth?

Nothing, to Him, but everything to me.