Geroge Best. (LOVEJOY, Joe. Bestie): A Portrait of a Legend (Signed copy with an original signed photograph of Best at the book launch)

London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1998. First edition. Octavo. pp. 388. Publisher’s black cloth, lettered in gilt to spine, in original pictorial dust jacket. A near fine copy, the jacket bright and fresh, with only light creasing at extremities. Internally clean and crisp.

Signed copy. Together with an original colour photograph depicting Best at the signing event holding a copy of the present work, also signed, and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity (Bernie Smith / Manchester United Museum & Tour association), confirming the signature was obtained in person at the 1998 signing.

The authorised biography of one of football’s most charismatic and tragic figures, George Best, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of the twentieth century. Lovejoy’s account combines first-hand insight with contemporary reportage, charting Best’s rise from Belfast prodigy to global icon at Manchester United, and the subsequent personal decline that has become inseparable from his legend.

This example is particularly desirable as a fully contextualised signed copy, enhanced by the contemporary photographic record of the signing itself—a feature rarely encountered in the market. The inclusion of the original photograph, showing Best holding the book at the moment of signing, provides an unusually strong layer of provenance and visual immediacy, elevating it beyond the standard signed copy.

Attesting that the book was personally signed by Best at a 1998 event. The accompanying signed photograph corroborates this, offering a compelling and coherent provenance group.

[WR Sport]