AUTOGRAPH (Gr.) is a term applied to what is written with the person's own hand, and amt :by an.amanuensis. In relation to manuscripts, it is used in opposition to a copy. The .collection of autographs has, especially in recent times:become sin object of eager pursuit..and.consequently they form a branch of literary trade. Their value is deter mined by the. interest felt in the writer, the scarcity of such relics of him, and the tents of the writing. Besides portraits of famous persons, we wish, particularly in the •case of distingtfished.contemporaries, to possess a specimen of their handwriting; or at least their signature, as the peculiarity of the style—the physiognomy of the handwriting --completes our knowledge of their personality. Lithography is particularly serviceable In this matter, not only by supplying fac-similes for biographical and historical works and for portraits, but also by multiplying impressions of coll. cted autographs. such as
have Appeared in England by Smith, in Holland by Nathan, and in Germany by DOMW. But deserving -mention before all others are the Lographie des Thanmes Crfibres (3 vols. Par, 1828-30), to which a supplement appeared in 1830; and the bunt znr 200 jarigen Gedachtnissfeier des Westfilischen FriedeiosehAms(s (fol. Leip. 1848). W.e possess an uninterrupted succession of the royal autographs of England from king Richard II. downwards. Facsimiles are to be found in Awtographs rf Boyd, Noble, Learned, and Remarkable Personaget Consnicaous in English llistory, from the Thign of Richard H. to that of Charles I7., by John Gough Nichols (fol. Load. 1829). The preface to:the work contains some 'interesting notices.