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For other uses, see Autograph (disambiguation).

An autograph is a document written entirely in the handwriting of its author, as opposed to a typeset document or one transcribed by an amanuensis or a copyist; the meaning overlaps with that of the word holograph. As the word is used by non-historians, it has come to mean a person's signature. This term is used in particular for the practice of collecting autographs of celebrities.

Customs

In East Asia, an autograph from famous gentry is regarded as an honour. The value of an item bearing a high official's autograph could rise incredibly. In imperial China, an autograph from an emperor was priceless but selling an item bearing it could be an criminal offense.

In Europe and North America, asking for a celebrity's autograph used to be seen as a child's activity up to only a few decades ago. The boom of collecting autographs as a hobby came during the 1980s, and, as a consequence, many memorabilia dealers took notice, and what used to be an innocent hobby lost that innocence as both dealers and celebrities began to charge money for their signatures (especially on personal checks).

Charging for autographs

It should be noted that many celebrities still enjoy signing autographs for free for the fans, keeping it a very interesting hobby to this day. Hilary Duff has gone as far as publicly lashing out at some of her fellow teen idol stars who avoid autograph collectors. Art Carney was another person who enjoyed signing autographs, until his passing in November of 2003.

Many people however, are not willing to distribute their signature—at least not for free. Sports personalities include most baseball players, such as the majority of the New York Yankees, the late Joe Dimaggio, and most notoriously, Barry Bonds. Other sports stars that try to avoid signing whenever possible are Bill Russell, who does not sign at all, and most NBA stars with huge contracts. The legendary Michael Jordan, would not and could not sign for most of his career because people were putting each other's safety at risk by scrambling to get the icon's autograph that is worth at least hundreds of dollars. Jordan however, has frequently signed at the more peaceful environments, such as golf tournaments. It is also a scramble to get Michael Jackson's autograph. A typical scenario is hundreds of fans in a crush waiting by Jackson's hotel, and Jackson signing five or ten autographs in the midst of rushing to his vehicle.

Forgeries

During the 1990s, many people started forging celebrity autographs and selling them as real, necessitating the involvement of the FBI. This enraged some celebrities, who would just stop signing autographs for everyone or sign exclusive deals for companies to distribute their autographs, to make sure everyone who got an autograph by paying for it was getting a real autograph and not a fake one.

Demands on celebrities

Many dealers also would wait for hours for a celebrity to come out of the place where they were, put 25 photos in front of them for the celebrity to sign and then sell 24 of them. Other dealers would locate the celebrity's home address and write to them asking for autographs multiple times. The celebrities, of course, would grow tired of that and make it a point to sign only one autograph per person. Because of the high volume of autographs a celebrity might sign over time, keeping track usually involves keeping a record of who has asked previously. Boxer George Foreman, for instance, records the names and addresses in his personal computer of every person that writes him asking for an autograph, so that whenever he receives a letter, he will know if the person is a fan who admires him or just a dealer who wants to sell his autographs and wants more of them.

Categories of celebrities

Some of the most popular categories of persons to collect autographs from are: sports and movie stars, teen idols, singers and music groups, political, social and religious leaders, scientists, astronauts and authors.

Other collectors may specialize in specific fields (Nobel Prize winners) or general topics (military leaders participating in World War I) or specific documents (i.e., signers of the Charter of the United Nations; signers of the U.S. Constitution; signers of the Israeli Declaration of Independence; signers of the Charter of the European Common Union; signers of the WWII German or Japanese Surrender documents).

Glossary

In autograph-auction catalogues the following abbreviations are used to help describe the type of letter or document that is being offered for sale.

• AD: Autograph Document (hand-written by the person to be collected, but not signed)
• ADS: Autograph Document Signed (written and signed by same individual)
• AL: Autograph Letter (hand-written by the person to be collected, but not signed)
• ALS: Autograph Letter Signed (hand-written and signed by same individual)
• AMs: Autograph Manuscript (hand-written; such as the draft of a play, research paper or music sheet)
• AMsS: Autograph Manuscript Signed (hand-written and signed by same individual)
• AMusQs: Autograph Musical Quotation Signed (hand-written and signed by same individual)
• AN: Autograph Note (much shorter than a letter)
• ANS: Autograph Note Signed (hand-written and signed by same individual)
• AQS: Autograph Quote Signed (hand-written and signed by same individual; poem verse, sentence, or bar-of-music)
• DS: Document signed (printed, or while hand-written by another, is signed by individual sought to be collected)
• LS: Letter Signed (hand-written by someone else, but signed by the individual sought to be collected)
• PS: Photograph Signed or Postcard Signed
• SP: Signed Photograph
• TLS: Typed Letter Signed
• TNS: Typed Note Signed
• folio: A printer's sheet of paper folded once to make two leaves, double quarto size or larger.
• octavo(8vo): A manuscript page about six-by-nine inches. (Originally determined by folding a printer's sheet of paper to form eighty leaves.)
• quarto(4to): A manuscript page of about nine and one-half by twelve inches. (Originally determined by folding a printer's sheet of paper twice to form two leaves.)

Fake autographs

Autograph collecting is an enthralling hobby to collectors, who enjoy assembling a series of historical documents, letters or objects that have been signed or autographed by a notable person as a way of capturing a piece of history.

Some collectors collect in a specialized field: such as gathering documents autographed by just American presidents, Nobel Prize winners, or baseball players who have hit over 500 home-runs during their career.

The hobby is extensively fraught with documents, photographs and sports items that were signed by forgers seeking to profit handsomely by selling either a fake or forged item purportedly signed by the real individual to an unwitting buyer. Sometimes it is just the signature that has been forged, other times the entire document has been unscrupulously doctored.

Fake or forged autographs abound for nearly all famous personalities. Differentiating the forged from the authentic of these is almost impossible to the amateur collector.

Sadly, there are many forged autographs being sold through various internet auction firms, used book stores, and other secondhand markets; the neophyte collector must cast a jaundiced eye at the many popular items being offered.

Forgers go to great lengths in making their forgeries appear authentic. They use blank end papers from old books upon which to write their fake signatures in their attempt to "match" their autograph with papers of the era that the personality lived. They researched the formulas about how to recreate inks of the era that they want to make their fake writings appear to be from. One book that explores the production of impressive fake manuscripts pertaining to Mormons is: A Gathering of Saints by Robert Lindsey.

One must know the era in which American presidents signed their documents. American presidents previously signed "land grants" until President Andrew Jackson (c.1836) grew accustomed to the time-consuming task. Since then secretaries of the president have mimicked their master's signatures on these documents (known as "proxy" signatures). Virtually all movie stars have their secretaries sign their letters and photographs for them. When President Ronald Reagan was an actor during the 1940s, he had his mother sign his name to much of his fan mail.

During the American Civil War (1861-1865), the president of the Confederate States of America was Jefferson Davis. Due to his extensive correspondence, Davis' wife frequently signed his name to his dictated letters. As she duplicated his signature so well, she usually placed a "dot" or "period" after the signature so that he could tell her signatures of his name from his own!

All of the Union and Confederate generals from the American Civil War have been forged. Many were faked during the 1880s, a period that included a fad of aging soldiers in collecting Civil War autographs. Most deceptions were of mere signatures on a small piece of paper, but extensively written letters were forged as well. Autograph collectors should be cautious of clipped signatures. The bogus autograph is glued onto an authentic steel-engraved portrait of the subject. Some steel engravings may have reprinted the autograph of the portrayed subject; this is known as a facsimile autograph, and to an uninformed buyer it may appear to be real.

Autopen signatures

Since the early 1950s almost all American presidents, Cabinet members, Senators and Representatives have had an autopen or robot signature-signing machine sign their letters, photographs and books that collectors have mailed to them for autographing. The Signa-Signer can even write out in ink an authentically looking handwritten message that has been typed into the machine. One book detailing the use of this machine by President John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) is The Robot That Helped to Make a President." Forgers have faked the signatures of all American presidents.

A photo signed by astronaut Neil Armstrong (c.1972) is an autopen signature; Armstrong declined to sign most of these items since 1980. Astronaut Alan Shepard acknowledged that NASA uses the autopen machine to sign the astronauts' voluminous correspondence. Many large corporations also use these machines for signing business letters. One might think that autopen signatures would constantly match one another. However, even autopen signatures will eventually change as the signature drum becomes worn and thereby alters the signature. After reading about these professional fakes, one must be leery of buying any presidential or astronaut signature from unknown sellers.

In December 2004 a controversy arose when it was revealed that the United Stats' Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, was using an autopen to sign letters-of-condolence to families of American military members who had died during Gulf War II. Shortly thereafter, Rumsfeld announced that he would start to personally sign such letters.

Deceptive devices

Some personalities have used a rubber or steel hand-stamp to "sign" their documents. American President Andrew Johnson (c.1866) did so after his right hand was damaged in a train accident when he was a senator before becoming president. This explains why his autograph as President differs from previous autographs signed when he was a senator. President Warren Harding frequently used a rubber stamp while he was a senator. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Delano Roosevelt used them, along with President Woodrow Wilson (c.1916). Even England's King Henry VIII and Pennsylvania-colony founder William Penn used the deceiving hand stamp.

Quality forgeries have been made for all of Europe's past rulers. The French nobles had their secretaires de main sign their documents. Many forgeries of France's Napoleon (c.1800) war orders exist; he was so busy fighting that he barely had enough time to sign promotion orders for generals only, while his scribes counterfeited his name to lesser documents.

All of famous scientists, space astronauts, arctic explorers, musicians, poets, and literary authors have had forgeries produced of their epistols and signatures. False signatures of the aviator Charles Lindbergh were clandestinely signed onto real 1930-era airmail envelopes bought at stamp shops and then re-sold to unwary buyers; the same with Amelia Earhart and the Wright brothers. "Mickey Mouse" creator, Walt Disney (1955), had several of his cartoonists duplicate his artistic signature on replies to children seeking his autograph.

When liberators freed their country from foreign control they soon issued new paper currency. Texan currency were signed in ink by Sam Houston, though not handwritten by Houston himself.

An article in Smithsonian Magazine explored the "melting timepieces" artwork of the Spanish painter Salvador Dali. It quoted one of his secretaries as claiming that she used to sign the eccentric artist's signature to postcards depicting his paintings.

Some deceivers cut pages from books that American President Richard Nixon (c.1970) signed on the blank flyleaf, typed his letter of resignation from the presidency on that signed page, and then sold the doctored item as if Nixon had personally signed a scarce copy of the historical document. The miscreant has changed the value of a lower-priced signed book quite easily to a much more lucrative item; changing a mere signature into a signed manuscript.

World War II (1939-1945)

Many of the autographed documents allegedly signed by the German leaders of the Nazi government have been forged. Many spurious documents and postcards claiming to be signed by Adolf Hitler are existential. Many were written on blank Nazi stationery that had been purloined by Allied soldiers ransacking the desks inside of the Fuhrer's shambled bunker in Berlin. German Fieldmarshall Erwin Rommel has had many bogus signatures penned in his characteristic green pencil that he used (ink dried too quickly in the hot North African climate). Italian dictator Benito Mussolini's signature has been forged on authentic documents actually signed by King Emanuel—this helps to make the phony Mussolini signature appear to be real, as it is on an otherwise sound document.

During the American Revolution (1776-1783) both Oliver Wolcott (Sr.) and his son, Oliver Wolcott Jr., signed various government documents. Senior signed the Declaration of Independence so his autograph is valuable. However, his son was only a state treasurer, so his autograph is not in high demand. Any serious autograph collector must watch out for the WWII blitzkrieging General Guderian autographed document: it may be signed by his son who became a German general after the war. The same confusion can exist in trying to differentiate between the signatures of the sons of Rommel and the American Admiral Nimitz (1945).

An individual's writing styles change throughout the lifespan of a person; a signature of President George Washington (c. 1795) will be different from one when he was an 18-year-old land surveyor. After British Admiral Nelson lost his right arm at the Tenerife sea-battle in 1797, he switched to his remaining left hand. Forgers buy real Revolutionary War-era documents and surreptitiously pen a famous patriot's name between other real signatures in a manuscript in hope of deceiving an unsuspecting buyer. Others will use tea or tobacco stains to brown or age their modern missives.

It has been estimated that over 80 percent of the autographed items of famous American sports players being sold over the Internet are fakes. Baseball legend Babe Ruth, for instance, has had his signature forged on old baseballs, then rubbed in dirt to make them appear to be from the 1930s.

Only long-established autographed dealers have the many years of research experience to determine the genuinity for autographs being sold in secondhand markets.

Further reading

References

1. "Forging History: The Detection of Fake Letters and Documents" by Kenneth Rendell, Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 1994, 173 pages. This book was written by one of America's most-respected autograph dealers. It discusses the materials (paper and ink) used by forgers; shows comparisons between fake and real signatures; discusses famous forgers; provides an analysis of major forgeries; details the equipment used in examining questionable documents; and provides a bibliography of almost 100 books written on the subject of either autograph collecting or documenting forgeries.
2. "Great Forgers and Famous Fakes" by Charles Hamilton, Crown Publishers, 1980, 278 pages. A legendary autograph expert provides hundreds of illustrations of fake versus real signatures. He discusses the manuscript forgers and how they duped the experts.
3. "Making Money in Autographs" by George Sullivan, 1977, 223 pages. As the title suggests, this book presents strategies as to how one can maximize the value of one's collection by investing in prime autograph documents in various collectible fields. A wonderful analysis of the scarcity and resale appealability of the holographic material of all U.S. presidents and many other prominent personalities. Shows presidential proxy and autopen samples. He confirms that most astronaut materials have passed through the autopen. Nice lists and dates of: U.S. presidents, wives of the presidents, vice presidents, signers of the Declaration of Independence, and early manned space flights.
4. "Collecting Autographs and Manuscripts" by Charles Hamilton, Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 1961, 269 pages. It is illustrated with more than 800 facsimiles and other reproductions of historical documents signed by nobility, political leaders, American "Wild West" sheriffs and badmen, military, and worldwide literature fields.
5. "Autographs and Manuscripts: A Collector's Manual" edited by Ed Berkeley, Charles Scribner's Sons Pub., 1978, 565 pages. Contains some 40 articles by famous autograph dealers and collectors who discuss how to detect fake autographs; how to care for your collection; and details different ways of how to collect autographs by different topics: science, religion, literature, politics, etc.
6. "Scribblers & Scoundrels" by Charles Hamilton, Eriksson Pub., 1968, 282 pages. A lively and entertaining book discussing the forgers and their techniques that the author encountered when they attempted to sell their forgeries to him at his manuscript shop.
7. "Manuscripts: The First Twenty Years" edited by Priscilla Taylor, Greenwood Press, 1984, 429 pages. A compilation of over 50 articles reprinted from publications of The Manuscript Society. It primarily details how to assemble autograph collections by different topics: medical notables, literary authors, scientists, etc. It slightly discusses the art of detecting forgeries.
8. "Autographs: A Key to Collecting" by Mary Benjamin, 1963, 345 pages. Written by the great female autograph dealer. Provides a historical summary of: collecting, terminology, evaluation in pricing a document, famous forgers, how to detect forgeries, confused identities, care and preservation, and two nice tables detailing the names of Napoleon's marshals and family members.
9. "Big Name Hunting: A Beginners Guide to Autograph Collecting" by Charles Hamilton, Simon & Schuster Pub., 1973, 95 pages. A short, enjoyable book advising teenagers how to start their collections. But with some helpful knowledge about identifying autopen signatures and other tidbits about collecting that are useful even to the professional collector. Good revelations about the copycat signatures by presidential secretaries. How to identify lithographs and steel-stamp signatures. Concise, but still choice!
10. "The Signature of America" by Charles Hamilton, Harper & Row, 1979, 279 pages. A book for those who specialize in American autographs: the Old West, authors, presidents, women, artists, criminals, musicians, entertainers, and many others.
11. "Word Shadows of the Great: The Lure of Autograph Collecting" by Thomas Madigan, Frederick Stokes Co., 1930, 300 pages. One of the early books discussing the excitement of autograph collecting, and presents nice facsimiles of old European autographs.
12. "Collecting Autographs For Fun and Profit" by Robert Pelton, Betterway Pub., 1987, 160 pages. A fun, breezy book about autograph collecting. Many facsimiles of sports autographs, but also shows 12 different variations as to how Napoleon signed his name. Explains what factors influence the price of an autograph.
13. "From the White House Inkwell" by John Taylor, Tuttle Co., 1968, 147 pages. Presents many facsimile letters from U.S. presidents and discusses rubber-stamp and proxy signatures used by presidential secretaries.
14. "Autograph Collector's Checklist" edited by John Taylor, The Manuscript Society, 1990, 172 pages. While unfairly low on this book list, it is THE reference book of seldom-seen lists of those in the collectible fields of: the Stamp Act Congress, Justices of the Supreme Court, the War of 1812, Unionists & Confederates, First Ladies, financiers, cabinet members, composers, scientists, unsuccessful presidential candidates, military participants, and a few other fields. Many nuggets of tidbit factoids about most of these people, and dates of their service or work.
15. "The Autograph Collector" by Robert Notlep, Crown Pub., 1968, 240 pages. For its time, a nice display of autograph facsimiles, with interest to youngsters in starting an autograph collection. Interesting name lists of : attendees at the U.S. Constitutional Convention, Revolutionary War generals, signers of the United Nations Charter, Napoleon's marshalls, and Napoleon's immediate family and relatives by marriage. A nice book of autograph trivia.
16. "The Complete Book of Autograph Collecting" by George Sullivan, 1971, 154 pages. I almost didn't list this book, but I have because it is another one of those "fun" books for beginning collectors. Discusses the spry efforts of "autograph hounds" in stalking sports and movie autographs, but also reviews the standard political and historical items that teenagers really can't afford.
17. "A Gathering of Saints" by Robert Lindsey, Simon & Schuster, 1988, 397 pages. It reveals the criminal forging techniques of one of the greatest forgers of historical holograms, and why he killed two people to hide his fakes.
18. "Dönitz at Nuremberg: A Re-Appraisal" by H.K. Thompson, Amber Pub., 1976, 198 pages. Contains the facsimile signatures and biographies of some 350 worldwide military personalities of World War II. The author wrote to each of these notables and asked each to give their thoughts about the convening of war-criminal trials for military personnel, specifically for the German GrossAdmiral Donitz; many very illuminate opinions.
19. "Leaders and Personalities of the Third Reich" by Charles Hamilton, 2 vols., Bender Pub., 1984 (Vol. 1) and 1996 (Vol. 2). Two volumes of almost 1,000 glossy pages providing biographies and the reproduction of hundreds of facsimile letters and autographs of Germans (military, political, religious, spies, etc.) involved with the short-lived "Thousand Year Reich."
20. "The Guinness Book of World Autographs" by Ray Rawlins, 1997, 244 pages. The title pretty much says it all: hundreds of worldwide facsimile autographs and identifications.
21. "The Robot that Helped to Make a President" by Charles Hamilton, 1965. Reveals the different proxy signatures produced by the autopen machines used by Pres. John Kennedy.
22. "War Between the States: Autographs and Biographical Sketches" by Jim Hayes, Palmetto Pub., 1989, 464 pages. Your guide to the hundreds of autographs of both Union and Confederate personalities from the U.S. Civil War (1861-1865).
23. "American Autographs" by Charles Hamilton, 2 vols., Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 1983, 634 pages. For the specialist who needs almost 2,000 facsimile documents of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence and Revolutionary War Leaders (including British and French) and other patriots. The second volume: contains copious samples of all presidents; reveals Pres. Eisenhower use of the autopen even before his presidency; presents dozens of secretarial proxy signatures for the modern presidents; lists Watergate participants; displays First Lady items; and shows facsimiles of assassins or would-be assassins from John Booth to John Hinckley. Perhaps this should really be the second book listed, but listed low here only because of its cost. It is simply superlative with its autopen minutiae and facsimiles. You shouldn't be a buyer of modern presidents without having these tomes at hand for reference.
24. "Autographs of Indian Personalities" by S.S. Hitkari, Phulkari Pub., 1999, 112 pages. Provides wonderful autograph facsimiles and biographies for some 250 literary, medical, political and music notables from the land of the Taj Mahal: India.
25. "Ieri Ho Visto Il Duce: Trilogia dell'iconografic mussonliniana" ed. Ermanno Alberti. High glossy photo book of many items relating to Italian dictator Benito Mussolini; including 24-page analysis of his autographs. Italian language.
26. "Who's Who" series; "Who's Who in America," etc. Provides mailing addresses for thousands of individuals involved in: science, music, space, sports, military, politics, world leaders, etc.
27. "Appletons' Cyclopaedia of American Biography" ed. By James Wilson, 6 vols., 1888. Provides the biographies of thousands of American notables, and dozens of steel engravings with facsimile autographs.

See also

• Autograph hobby timeline
• Autograph Collector Magazine
• Autopen
• Flatsigned

External links

• Gerard A.J. Stodolski, Inc. Historic Autographs & Manuscripts
• Auto Collecting
• Autographs from personalities of the 19th and 20th century
• Autograph Collector Magazine
• Sterling and Earl's Celebrity Encounters
• Tips On Boxing Autographs
• CelebrityAutographs.com
• More than 3000 guaranteed authentic autographs
• Guaranteed authentic autographs and hunting reports
• ISITREAL.com - worldwide largest autograph reference database
• Interview with noted sports autograph expert, James Spence III
• Autograph of living world famous
• Authentic western movie autographs
• Autographed Baseball Player Postcards

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