Vintage Autograph Reference Books - Part 3
Part 3 begins with a charming autograph reference book and overall a fine book for your reference shelf.
Chats on Autographs, author A.M. Broadley. Frederick A. Stokes Co. Publisher, 1910. Contains 12 Chapters plus the index.
Early Chapters include, Autograph Collecting Generally, Modern Autograph Collector and his Equipment, The Caveat Emptor Of Autograph Collecting, Some Famous Autograph Finds, Royal Autographs, Literary Autographs of Three Centuries, Autographs of Music, Drama and Art, A Century of American Autograph Collecting and much more. Our copy contains a two page a.l.s. from a Mr. Telamon Cuyler who claims he is the author of the book. Mr. Cuyler is mentioned on page # 238. Mr. C.E. Goodspeed states: “I think the most interesting autograph which I have ever had was a one page quarto letter from Martha Washington to Mrs. John Adams, the wife of the second President of the U.S. in answer to Mrs. Adams’ letter of condolence on the death of her husband (President Washington). This letter sold for $300.00.
Copy of an a.l.s. of John Wesley, June 14,1788
Our copy also includes a scarce handwritten note by the author.
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JOLINE, Adrian H. Rambles In Autograph Land. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1913.
Three hundred thirty-one pages, illustrated with many portraits and facsimiles. Many chapters including Facsimiles and Forgeries, Autographs in Literature, The Autograph Market, Private Vendors and Their Ways, Collectors and Their Methods, My Own Collection, 19th Century Writers, English Statesmen, Colonial Notables, American Authors New England Philosophers and a few more.
Below is an a.l.s. of Percy Shelley April, 27, 1817
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SEYMOUR, George Steele Adventures With Books and Autographs. The Bookfellows, Chicago, 1920 Publishers.. Limited Edition of 500 copies of the First Edition. Dedicated to Walter Benjamin, Man of Letters. Eighty-one pages, with several illustrations. The introduction starts with “This is the book for which the world has waited so long and patiently it has been in the making for over 40 years….”
Above are some Interesting comments from George Steele Seymour.
Our copy is inscribed by the author.
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GRATZ, Simon A Book About Autographs Publisher, William J. Campbell, Philadelphia. 1920.Limited to 500 numbered copies. Three hundred ninety-four pages with illustrations. Chapters on The Taste for Collecting Autographs, Qualities that Determine Value of Autographs, Various Ways in Which Collections Have Been Formed, Concerning Spurious of False Autographs,Increase in Market Value, European Collections of the Olden and Recent Times, Private Collections in the United States, Public Collections of Autographs, Migration and Pedigree of Autographs and Conversation of Autographs. This volume ends with a very lengthy thirty page index.
Our copy contains a rare autograph letter signed of the great Simon Gratz.
Printed obituary on inside blank leaf by Walter R. Benjami which states in part Simon Gratz died in Augst 1925, only five years after the publishing of this book. “…the United States lost its greatest collector….He was the greatest expert in autographs in the United States. I considered his judgment on an autograph as infallible…..”
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GEIGY, C.H. Handbook of Famous Facsimiles of Famous Personages. Basle (Switzerland), Rudolf Geering, Publisher, 1925. Two hundred eighty-seven pages , very heavily illustrated and ending with the index. If anyone is looking for facsimiles, this is the book for you.
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BUTLER, Joseph G. Autographed Portraits, Collection of Joseph G. Butler, Jr., The Butler Art Institute, Youngstown, Ohio. The Vindicator Printing Co. Youngstown, Ohio, 1927. Four hundred seventy-two pages, heavily illustrated.
Below is a sample illustration from Autographed Portraits.
Autographed Portraits contains around 240 signed portraits.
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CHARNWOOD, Lady An Autograph Colllection and the Making of it. Henry Holt and Co (1930). Three hundred eighteen pages with illustrations and a handy index. A charming read. Contains 20 chapters. She starts by saying “In these days American money takes the best items on the English market to the United States…..”
Our copy has a rare 4 pages a.l.s with excellent content by Lady Charnwood.
Illustrated are pages one and four.
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MADIGAN, Thomas F. Word Shadows of the Great, The Lure of Autograph Collecting. Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1930. Three hundred pages with illustrations and an index.
Below is an illustration from Word Shadows of the Great
Our copy bears a desirable presentation inscription to a noted autograph collector.
Please note: This book was also published in a very special Limited Edition.
Beautifully bound and comes with a slipcase. Each copy comes with a signature or al.s. of a very special person. Some of the items inserted in these copies were names of importance but at the time of little value. Our copy contains an a.l.s. of G. Marconi.
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WADHAM, Charles King Some Reminiscences and Reflections on Collecting Autographs. Privately printed Office of the Unversity Press, New Haven, Connecticut, March 1931. The author says: “As I walked the streets I often saw many of the distinguished men and women who made Boston the famous literary center of those days…” He then talks about meeting some of the giants of those days. He often saw John Greenleaf Whittier, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, James Russell Lowell Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Tyndall, Oliver Wendell Holmes Phillips Brooks and several more. Mr.King goes into detail about meeting these celebrities and one reading this may feel that they are walking alongside Mr. King on his attempts to acquire special autographs.
We were going to stop at autogaph referene books published up to1930 but we found this scarce title by Charles King Wadman so interesting and that most collectors will never find a copy.
Reference books on autographs after 1930 are readily available at used book stores and on ebay. Good luck hunting!
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An interesting side line is trying to find catalogs of the early companies who dealt in autographs. It’s nice to see what was available in the early days of collecting autographs. Illustrtated below is a small offering of autographs from a book dealer (circa 1920’s) who is still in business today.
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