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Q I have a first edition of "Sons and Lovers" by D.H. Lawrence. The FFEP has a personalized inscription from the author dated 1921. How do I verify that this is an authentic signature?

— Harmon, Tucson

A I see that you use book-speak. To clue readers, FFEP is an acronym for "first free end page," or paper.

You are a smart collector to question that signature. As stated here many times, most celebrity signatures are bogus for a multitude of reasons, from autopen rendered to secretary signed. So, questioning is never wrong.

But your dedication is from a literary figure, and at that, certainly not one in the stratosphere of Stephen King. I'd be leery of a purported early King signature, but a dedication from D.H. Lawrence has a good probability of being true. Still, it's smart to check it out.

The gold standard for accessible autograph info is the Universal Autograph Collectors Club (UACC), a longtime collector/dealer organization. Key www.uacc.org for a list of registered dealers and authenticators. There should be one in your area to give you thumbs up on the Lawrence signature.

Be an even smarter collector and check bookseller sites to see what signed first editions of "Sons and Lovers" bring: Try www.abebooks.com, www.biblio.com or www.bookfinder.com. Since it is an antiquarian book, also check www.abaa.org.

Q Photos show a parlor stove that belonged to my grandmother. I want to sell it, but don't know what to ask. It has a crack in the back.

— Mary, Houlton, Maine

A It pains me to tell you this, but a cast iron heating stove or cooking oven with a crack is as useful as a flower vase with a hole. Purely decorative.

The small Arabian Parlor stove No. 1 is indeed a charmer. It appears to be cast iron, perhaps enameled. If the blue is enamel and not paint, that's a definite plus. A decorative finial is frosting on the cake. Still, the crack renders it useless as a heating implement.

This is such an attractive stove that a local auction might sell it for you. Or it can go into online auction on a "pick up" basis. Recent sales of small parlor stoves on eBay have run $300 to $500 and more. Book values on enameled small parlor stoves in good condition reach to $3,000. Why the difference? Because book prices are ballpark, whereas eBay reflects market reality at any given moment.

Whatever selling route you choose, this stove is a good product. Don't let it go cheap. But be upfront about the crack.

Q Please tell me something about my wood-burning cast iron cook stove. When I was a little girl, my mother cooked on this stove.

— Wanda, Locust Grove, Okla.

A Mother may have used it to cook on, but the stove's original purpose was as a laundry stove. A century or so ago, women heated water on such stoves for washday. After adding soap (homemade), they stirred the steeping laundry as they bent over the stove. So much for the "good old days."