Autograph Collecting is more than baseball players and actors!
- Autograph versus Signature
What is an "autograph" anyway? If you break down the word you will find
two parts: "graph" meaning anything that is written and "auto" meaning by
one's self. So an autograph is anything that is written by someone.
Examples include letters, documents, musical scores, maps, diaries and
journals, and of course the "signature". Note that a letter may be
handwritten by the individual whose signature it bears, or it may be
dictated or otherwise written by an aide and signed by the author. In the
later case we have an L.S. (Letter Signed), in the former case an A.L.S.
(Autograph Letter Signed).
- What do Collectors Look For?
The most important thing about an autograph is
the interest or importance of its content. When an autograph was written
is also very important. For example, collectors are more interested in
Presidential material written while in office, signers of the Declaration
of Indendence are invariably more desireable from 1776 than 1790---content
being equal. The form of the signature can also be important, for example
letter and document signed by the British Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell
who defeated King Charles I (for whom the Charles River is named) tend to
be more interesting to collectors when signed as "Oliver Cromwell" or "O.
Cromwell." When he became Lord Protector he altered his signature to
"Oliver P.," a rather pompus move. In general an A.L.S. is more
interesting to a collector than an L.S.; however content is almost always
more important.
- Patrons of History:
History is about the stories, personalities, life, conflict and way of
life as "written" on paper, vellum, papyrus or tablets. It is a record of
our past given in writing. Hence, autographs are central to learing
history. They are not the only thing---archeology and other sciences are
also important. However, archeologists can also study pre-history. If
there is no form of writting, there is no "history" only "pre-history."
Thus, autographs provide the fundamental basis for the exploration of the
human mind, action and thought over thousands of years. A collector is
only a temporay protector of some small pieces of historical data.
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