Meditations Of An Autograph Collector

Author's personal copy expanded to four volumes to accommodate the insertion of 189 original autograph letters and documents, extra-illustrated with several hundred engravings of famous individuals from all walks of life whose autographs are herein contained.

Excerpt from Meditations of an Autograph Collector In the Connoisseur of October, 1901, Henry Thomas Scott writes concerning Rational Autograph Collecting, and expresses the Opin ion that interest in the subject and the number of collectors steadily increase I hope that it is true, and, if it be true, there may be some who may find something to appeal to them in these notes and jottings, made in the leisure intervals of a professional life. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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Excerpt from A Book About Autographs Other books, such as Mr. Adrien H. Joline's very entertaining Meditations Of an Autograph Collector and Rambles in Autograph Land, consist mainly Of the text Of letters in his collection, which serve as a basis for the expression Of thoughts, Observations, and comments, sometimes profound, sometimes humorousor sarcastic, but always interesting and frequently in structive. The same comment is true, though in a much smaller degree, of the little book written by Mr. George R. Sims, entitled Among My Autographs. These books have, therefore, a character that is literary, and distinctly different from the practical treatment Of the subject which is intended to be followed in this volume. From all available sources the writer has tried to gather whatever will help to give collectors something approaching an adequate knowledge of the taste for collecting autographs, and its progress from small be ginnings to the prominence it has now attained. In the belief that a portion Of the subject which has hither to been neglected should receive proper consideration, much Space is given to a detailed account Of a number Of the leading collections that have, in years past, made their appearance at public sales after the death of their owners. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. Why do we sign our names? How can a squiggle both enslave and liberate? Signatures often require a witness-as if the scrawl itself is not enough. What other kinds of beliefs and longings justify our signing practices? Signature addresses these questions as it roams from a roundtable on the Greek island of Syros, to a scene of handwriting analysis conducted in an English pub, from a wedding in Moscow, where guests sign the bride's body, to a San Franciscan tattoo parlor interested in arcane forms. The signature's history encompasses ancient handprints on cave walls, autograph hunters, the branding of slaves, metaphysical poetry, medical malpractice, hip-hop lyrics, legal challenges to electronic signatures, ice cores harvested from Greenland, and tales of forgery and autopens. Part cultural chronicle, part travelogue, Signature pursues the identifying marks made by people, animals, and planetary forces, revealing the stories and fantasies hidden in their signatures. Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.