Late last spring, curator Robinson McClellan of New York’s Morgan Library and Museum, was sifting through an array of cultural memorabilia, including letters of Brahms and Tchaikovsky, and postcards signed by Picasso.
“When McClellan came across Item No. 147,” The New York Times wrote, “he froze: It was a pockmarked musical scrap the size of an index card.”
What McClellan held in his hands, it turns out, was an unknown waltz by Frédéric Chopin.
“…the Morgan,” the Times wrote, “…is confident the waltz is authentic, pointing to several Chopin hallmarks…the paper and ink are consistent with what Chopin used at the time…the penmanship matches the composer’s...down to the unusual rendering of the bass clef symbol…the museum noted that “another Chopin manuscript in the Morgan’s holdings shows a similar bass clef symbol.”
One delightful bonus: the “manuscript is also embellished with a doodle by Chopin, who liked to draw,” the Times reported.
And there we have it. Signature confirmation because of handwriting analysis.
How utterly old school.