Runner Finds a Sealed Tube Standing Alone: The Perfect Edition Forgery

Runner Finds a Sealed Tube Standing Alone: The Perfect Edition Forgery Cold frost, a sealed three-foot tube with red wax, and a single lithograph worth about $50,000-abandoned in a frozen park with no footprints nearby. How did the only authentic print in an edition of two hundred end up alone in the dirt while forgeries circulated freely, and who used an overlooked 1979 artisan diary to make it possible? In this episode, we follow the discovery, the provenance records, and the people tied to a lithographic edition that collapsed under its own documentation. We trace the route from a morning run in Dunmore to the Aldrich Foundation’s archives and ask how institutional trust was weaponized to hide a forgery scheme. Person: Ronald Mitchell Date: January 9, 2019 Location: Crestfield Park, Dunmore, Ohio Topic: lithographic print edition and forgery Institution: Aldrich Foundation - At 7:00 AM on January 9, 2019 the temperature in Dunmore, Ohio was 23 degrees Fahrenheit. - The runner’s usual circuit measured 4.2 miles and he had run it every workday morning for four years. - The tube found in the frozen ground was roughly three feet tall and sealed with red wax. - The edition contained 200 numbered and signed impressions pulled from 21 limestone blocks printed in spring and summer 1981. - One authentic print (number 12) was purchased by Gerald Webb in 1981, kept 31 years, and sold at auction in December 2018 to a buyer using a listed Cincinnati address that turned out to be a vacant commercial unit. To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].