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An autograph is a person's own handwriting or signature. The word autograph comes from Ancient Greek ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, autós, "self" and {{#invoke:Lang|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" />
HistoryEdit
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 manuscriptEdit
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 signatureEdit
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>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
See alsoEdit
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- Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence, stone blocks with depicted signatures
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- Template:Annotated link, specifically a signature made by an agent on behalf of a principal
ReferencesEdit
Further readingEdit
- 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 linksEdit
- Template:HathiTrust Catalog (early 20th-century periodical, full view)