Autographs of Karl May
Karl Friedrich May (/maɪ/ MY, German: ⓘ; 25 February 1842 – 30 March 1912) was a German author known for writing often in first-person narrative about travels and adventures, mostly set in the American Old West or the Orient and Middle East, but also in Latin America, China and within Germany. For a time he insisted that he actually had travelled to the West and was called Old Shatterhand there, while in the Ottoman Empire he was called Kara Ben Nemsi, and posed in costumes.
May is one of the best-selling German writers of all time, with about 200 million copies sold worldwide. A series of Karl May film adaptations was successful in the 1960s.
May was the fifth child of a poor family of weavers in Ernstthal, Schönburgische Rezessherrschaften (then part of the Kingdom of Saxony). He had 13 siblings, of whom nine died in infancy. His parents were Heinrich August May and Wilhelmine Christiane Weise. During his school years, he received instruction in music and composition. At age twelve, May was making money at a skittle alley, where he was exposed to rough language.
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Current items with a signature of Karl May
These are the most current items with a signature of Karl May that were listed on eBay and on other online stores - click here for more items.
| Picture | Item Title | Price | Store |
 | Original Autograph Card Film Scene - Karl May Leatherstocking D1.4 | £47.95 |  |
Traded items with a signature of Karl May
The most expensive item with a signature of Karl May (Original autograph autograph Dan Martin-Karl May leather stocking D1.4) was sold in January 2026 for £90.80 while the cheapest item (Postcard portrait of the author Karl May, reverse autograph by Patty Frank) found a new owner for £20.26 in February 2025. The month with the most items sold (17) was April 2025 with an average selling price of £46.77 for an autographed item of Karl May. Sold items reached their highest average selling price in February 2026 with £79.54 and the month that saw the lowest prices with £30.37 was September 2023. In average, an autographed item from Karl May is worth £59.23.
Most recently, these items with a signature of Karl May were sold on eBay - click here for more items.
