Art Scott wrote:

>Listers with a touch of obsessive collector syndrome -- I suspect there
>are quite a few here -- will want to inspect this article on the
>Columbia Journalism School website:
>
>http://jscms.jrn.columbia.edu/cns/2006-02-28/friedman-weirdautographs

Just to be more obsessional on examining the X-rays there does not appear
to be a trace of arthritis; no marginal osteophyte formation; no narrowing
of joints with the possible exception of the wrists themselves where
there seems to be some marginal sclerosis.  Of course the available
picture is not high resolution.  I am not a radiologist but I would be
pretty satisfied if my hands looked like this on X-ray in middle-age.

And this is after countless millions - perhaps billions - of joint
movements.  I wonder how old he was when this X-ray was taken; do we
know?

Another interesting thing is that there appears to be a watch on the
right hand - at least on the right side.  Is the image reversed I wonder
(Godowsky's signature is not reversed)?  Of course, it might not be a
watch but could be a sleeve with metallic threads in it (on looking at
an enlarged version with the colours reversed it is more likely to be a
shirt sleeve still with metallic threads but even that is doubtful; it
could be just some artefact).

The X-ray is obviously very old - partly because of the light background.
It is the "negative" of a modern X-ray which invariably has a dark rather
than a light background.  Or perhaps it was just done like this so that
Godowsky's signature would be legible.

It is a fascinating document.

Leon Le Leu
Googong, Australia