Autograph

File:B-a-c-h Reger.jpg

"B-A-C-H is beginning and end of all music", signed autograph document by Max Reger (dated 7 May 1912)

An autograph is a person's own handwriting or signature. The word autograph comes from Ancient Greek (Template:Lang, autós, "self" and Template:Lang, gráphō, "write"), and can mean more specifically:<ref name="EB1911">Template:Cite EB1911</ref><ref name="Webster's">Gove, Philip B. (ed.), 1981. Webster's Third New International Dictionary, p. 147. Template:ISBN</ref>

• a manuscript written by the author of its content.<ref name="EB1911" /><ref name="Webster's" /> In this meaning the term autograph can often be used interchangeably with holograph.<ref name="EB1911" /><ref name="Tomita">Template:Cite book</ref>
• a celebrity's handwritten signature.<ref name="Webster's" /> Autograph collecting is the activity of collecting such autographs.<ref name="EB1911" />

History

Template:Expand section What might be considered the oldest "autograph" is a Sumerian clay table from about 3100 BC which includes the name of the scribe Gar.Ama. No ancient written autographs have been found, and the earliest one known for a major historical figure is that of El Cid from 1098.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Autograph manuscript

Template:Main article "Autograph" can refer to a document transcribed entirely in the handwriting of its author, as opposed to a typeset document or one written by an amanuensis or a copyist. This meaning overlaps that of "holograph".<ref name="Tomita" />

Celebrity's signature

File:Franzl Lang.jpg

Picture of German yodeler Franzl Lang, autograph (likely for a fan's collection) at bottom.

Template:Main article Autograph collecting is the hobby of collecting autographs of famous persons.<ref name="EB1911" /> Some of the most popular categories of autograph subjects are presidents, military soldiers, athletes, movie stars, artists, social and religious leaders, scientists, astronauts, and authors.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• Template:Annotated link
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• Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence, stone blocks with depicted signatures
• Template:Annotated link
• Template:Annotated link, specifically a signature made by an agent on behalf of a principal

Further reading

• Collecting Autographs and Manuscripts by Charles Hamilton, Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 1961, 269 pages.
• Autographs and Manuscripts: A Collector's Manual edited by Ed Berkeley, Charles Scribner's Sons Pub., 1978, 565 pages.
• T.J. Brown's series on Autographs in The Book Collector.

External links

• Template:HathiTrust Catalog (early 20th-century periodical, full view)