Autograph
handwritten signature or manuscript by author
An autograph is a person's own handwriting or signature. The word autograph comes from Ancient Greek (αὐτός, autós, "self" and γράφω, gráphō, "write"), and can mean more specifically:
a manuscript written by the author of its content. In this meaning the term autograph can often be used interchangeably with holograph.
a celebrity's handwritten signature. Autograph collecting is the activity of collecting such autographs.
History
The Schøyen Collection states that it holds the "world's oldest autograph signature", namely a clay tablet (Ms. 2429/4) from about 3100 BC in archaic Sumerian, which includes the name of the scribe Gar.Ama.
Whether an autograph of a major figure of antiquity survives is disputed: Some scholars, especially the American papyrologist Peter van Minnen, are of the opinion that Papyrus Bingen 45 (33 BC) contains a Greek word written by Cleopatra. The papyrus would thus contain the only surviving autograph of an important figure from antiquity.
More than a millennium later, an autograph of El Cid is known, dated 1098.
“Autograph” enters the record as handwritten signature or manuscript by author. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Autograph, handwritten and signature can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Autograph” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Autograph, handwritten and signature provides the most credible route into that argument.
Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2872572. The Library of Congress control number is sh85010068. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1098.
Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Autograph”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Autograph primary sources, Autograph archive and Autograph research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Autograph”?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Autograph” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.