Spectroscopic Authentication of Very Old Nova Candidates

Results are reported from spectroscopic observations of four objects which have been identified as possible quiescent novae. Spectra obtained using the 1.0-m telescope at SAAO, the 4-m telescope at CTIO, and the 3.6-m Canada-France-Hawaii telescope during 1988-1989 are presented for T Boo (Nova 1860), U Leo (Nova 1855), Nova Pup 1673, and E2000 + 223 (an Einstein Observatory X-ray source supposed to be an old nova shell). No certain evidence is found that any of these candidates are the blue mass-transferring binaries predicted by theoretical models of classical novae.