VINTAGE Autograph Reference Books
By Stephen Koschal
For decades I have been asked about collecting old autograph reference books. I believe it was in the 1970’s, that I wrote a popular article for the old Universal Autograph Collectors Club on this subject which earned me an award. Still, today books on autograph collecting are collected not only by dealers but by collectors as well. However, unfortunately today, most educated collectors and dealers have little interest in writing a book on this subject. Most are unwilling to share their knowledge.
The one exception may be Ron Keurajian, the best-selling author of Collecting Historical Autographs (2017).
Because of the amount of material available, this story will be written in at least three parts. The reference books in this three part article will end in 1931. Books after 1931 are usually available.
All collectors, dealers and authenticators that have visited my office are shocked at the size of my reference material. This valuable resource has given me the advantage of writing and publishing over 600 educational articles on the subject of autograph collecting.
Many in this wonderful hobby of ours is hard to believe that between 1747 thru 1866 at a minimum, 143 books were published on the subject of autograph collecting. Most were published in London, others in Paris, Scotland and one in Germany is 1846.
It appears that the earliest autograph reference book I have was published in London in 1837 by Richard Glynn. It is a large book consisting of 112 pages.
The Autograph Portfolio A Collection of Facsimile Letters from Eminent Persons. Very heavily illustrated, the illustrations are mostly of English persons except for Benjamin Franklin and George Washington.
Illustrated above is an autograph letter signed by Sir Christopher Wren dated June 21, 1699 from the Autograph Portfolio.
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The second autograph reference book I can find on my shelves is published in America in Massachusetts. Autographs The American Orator by Lewis C. Munn 1856. This early book must have been very popular because in 1856, it was already in its Sixth Edition.
Illustrated below are pages from The American Orator.
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An early favorite of mine was printed in Paris in 1883. Les Tres Anciens Manuscrits. An interesting item to me is because it is inscribed and signed by the author Leopold Delisle.
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To me, it appears the autograph reference material in America basically started on a large scale with autograph catalogs by dealer Charles De Forest Burns in August 1870. Volume #1 consisted of 24 pages filled with historical information about autographs and ending with a list of priced autographs for sale. In a dusty basement of a Boston book dealer, I discovered bound in leather the first three years of the Burns catalogs. I found the information printed in these catalogs so Important, I reprinted the entire collection.
Interesting advertisement found in Burns catalog Vol. III. No. 1, February 1873.
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The next major movement in autograph reference material came in September 1, 1887. It took 18 years for Walter Benjamin to produce his first catalog of autographs after the publishing of Burns first volume.
Some what similar in appearance to the Burns catalogs, printed was the following statement on issue #922 of The Collector.
For the Benjamin’s to make the above statement “the first genuine autographic paper ever published in this country…” were they unaware Burns published his catalogs 18 years earlier?
Autographs of the Benjamin’s. Walter Benjamin, his daughter Mary Benjamin and Christopher Jaeckel who eventually closed the business.
It certainly appears that after the publication of the Charles De Forest Burns catalogs and afterwards the publication of the Benjamin catalogs, neither having illustrations, there was a real thirst for knowledge of autograph collecting in America.
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Another autograph reference book to be written by an American was in 1889. An Essay on the Autographic Collections of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence and of the Constitution. Lyman C. Draper is the author and published by Burns & Sons, N.Y. 1889. An interesting volume, remarkably it has no illustrations. However, at the end of the book there are several pages covering the Robert Spring Autograph Forgeries. Our copy is inscribed and signed by the author.
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In 1891 an interesting large book on autographs was published in England. Although there is only one illustration in this book, it has a wealth of information. A Guide To The Collector Of Historical Documents, Literary Manuscripts and Autograph Letters. Authors, Rev. Dr. Scott and Samuel Davey, London, 1891, two hundred-nineteen pages. Contains fifteen interesting chapter including one on how to form a collection, History of Preservation, Forged Autographs and How To Protect Them and so much more.
Below is the illustration from the above book A Guide to the Collector of Historical Documents.
End of Part 1
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