We are frequently asked to recommend books on autographs and we hope that the list below will be of interest to collectors looking to expand their knowledge of philography. As well as the many magazine articles and smaller publications, retail and auction catalogues and collections of letters that we frequently consult, the following books have invariably proved useful and interesting reading. Some of these books are now quite rare, and are not for sale, but they can sometimes be found offered through Amazon and Abe Books. Depending on the nature of your collection, you may find some books more relevant than others, as reflected in the titles and publication dates.

ANACKER, O. (Pub.) Some Stirring Relics of English History (London, 1937)

AXELROD, Todd M. : Collecting Historical Documents - A Guide to Owning History (New Jersey, 1984)

AXELROD, Todd M. : The Handbook of Historical Documents - A Guide to Owning History (New Jersey, 1992)

AYALA, Roselyne de & GUENO, Jean-Pierre (Eds.) : Illustrated Letters - Artists and Writers Correspond (New York, 1999)

BAKER, Mark Allen : The Standard Guide to Collecting Autographs (Wisconsin, 1999)

BEAL, Peter : A Dictionary of English Manuscript Terminology 1450-2000 (Oxford, 2008)

BENJAMIN, Mary A. : Autographs: A Key to Collecting (New York, 1963)

BERKELEY Jr., Edmund (Ed.) : Autographs and Manuscripts: A Collector’s Manual (New York, 1978)

BERNARD & DELARUE : Isographie des Hommes Celebres ou Collection de Facsimile de Lettres Autographes (Paris, 1890)

BROADLEY, A. M. : Chats on Autographs (London, 1910)

BROGDEN, John Ellet : Autographs - Collection of Facsimile Autographs from the originals (Stamford, 1855)

BROOKS, Vincent (Pub.) The Autographic Mirror (Vols. I - IV, 1864-66)

CAHOON, LANGE & RYSKAMP : American Literary Autographs - from Washington Irving to Henry James (New York, 1977)

CALDWELL STEWART, Emilie : Signatures of the Third Reich (New Jersey, 1996)

CAMNER, James & LANIGAN, Neale : Film Autographs 1894 - 1941 (USA, 1978)

CASTAING, Frederic : Signatures (Paris, 1998)

CHARNWOOD, Lady Dorothea : An Autograph Collection and the making of it (London, 1930)

CORREA DO LAGO, Pedro : True to the Letter - 800 Years of Remarkable Correspondence, Documents and Autographs (London, 2004)

COURVILLE, E. H. (Ed.) : Autograph Prices Current (Vol. I 1914-16, Vol. II 1916-17, Vol. III 1917-18, Vol. IV 1918-19)

CROFT, P. J. : Autograph Poetry in the English Language (Vols. I & II, London, 1973)

DARVICK, Herman : Collecting Autographs (New York, 1981)

DATZ, Stephen R. (Pub.) : Cosmonaut Autographs Identification Guide (Colorado, 1994)

FLOWER, Desmond & MUNBY, A. N. L. : English Poetical Autographs (London, 1938)

GEIGY, Charles : Handbook of Facsimiles of Famous Personages (Basle, 1925)

GREENBERG, David : Presidential Doodles (New York, 2006)

HALLAM, Elizabeth & PRESCOTT, Andrew (Eds.) : The British Inheritance - A Treasury of Historic Documents (London, 1999)

HAMILTON, Charles : Collecting Autographs and Manuscripts (Oklahoma, 1961)

HAMILTON, Charles : The Robot that Helped Make a President - A reconnaissance into the mysteries of John F. Kennedy’s signature (New York, 1965)

HAMILTON, Charles : Scribblers & Scoundrels (New York, 1968)

HAMILTON, Charles : Big Name Hunting - A Beginner’s Guide to Autograph Collecting (New York, 1973)

HAMILTON, Charles : The Book of Autographs (New York, 1978)

HAMILTON, Charles : The Signature of America - A Fresh Look at Famous Handwriting (New York, 1979)

HAMILTON, Charles : Great Forgers and Famous Fakes - The Manuscript Forgers of America & How They Duped the Experts (New York, 1980)

HAMILTON, Charles : Auction Madness (New York, 1981)

HAMILTON, Charles : American Autographs (Vols. I & II, Oklahoma, 1983)

HAMILTON, Charles : The Illustrated Letter - An Extraordinary Collection of Embellished Correspondence by Celebrated Artists and Writers (New York, 1987)

HAMILTON, Charles : The Hitler Diaries - Fakes that Fooled the World (Kentucky, 1991)

HAMILTON, Charles : Leaders & Personalities of the Third Reich - their Biographies, Portraits and Autographs (Two vols., California, 1996)

HARDY, W. J. : The Handwriting of the Kings & Queens of England (Oxford, 1893)

HECTOR, L. C. : The Handwriting of English Documents (London, 1966)

J. H. : The Diversions of an Autograph Hunter (London, 1894)

JOLINE, Adrian H. : Rambles in Autograph Land (New York, 1913)

KLINKENBORG, CAHOON & RYSKAMP : British Literary Manuscripts, Series I from 800 to 1800 & Series II from 1800 to 1914 (New York, 1981)

MADIGAN, Thomas F. : Word Shadows of the Great - The Lure of Autograph Collecting (New York, 1930)

MARANS, M. Wesley : Sincerely Yours (Boston, 1983)

MORRISON, Alfred : Catalogue of the Collection of Autograph Letters and Historical Documents formed between 1865 and 1882 by Alfred Morrison (Vol. I A-C, London, 1883; Vol. II D-J, London, 1885; Vol. III K-L, London ,1888; Vol IV M, London, 1890 and Vol. V N-R, London, 1891)

MUNBY, A. N. L. : The Cult of the Autograph Letter in England (London, 1962)

MYERS, Winifred A. (Pub.) : Autographs by P. J. Croft (reprinted from The Concise Encyclopaedia of Antiques, Volume IV)

NETHERCLIFT, Frederick G. : The Autograph Miscellany - A Collection of Autograph Letters & Interesting Documents (First Series, London, 1855)

NETHERCLIFT, Frederick G. : The Handbook to Autographs : being a ready Guide to the Handwriting of Distinguished Men and Women of Every Nation (London, 1862)

NETHERCLIFT, Joseph : A Collection of One Hundred Characteristic and Interesting Autograph Letters, written by Royal and Distinguished Persons of Great Britain, from the XV to the XVIII century (London, 1849)

NICHOLS, John Gough : Autographs of Royal, Noble, Learned and Remarkable Personages conspicuous in English History, from the Reign of Richard The Second to that of Charles The Second, with some Illustrious Foreigners (London, 1829)

PATTERSON, Jerry E. : Autographs: A Collector’s Guide (New York, 1973)

RAWLINS, Ray : Four Hundred Years of British Autographs (London, 1970)

RAWLINS, Ray : The Guinness Book of World Autographs (Middlesex, 1977)

RENDELL, Kenneth W. : Forging History - The Detection of Fake Letters and Documents (Oklahoma, 1994)

RENDELL, Kenneth W. : History Comes to Life - Collecting Historical Letters and Documents (Oklahoma, 1995)

SAGGIORI, Renato : Les Papes, cinq siecles de signatures (Geneva, 2006)

SCOTT, Edward J. L. & others (Ed.) : Facsimiles of Royal, Historical, Literary and other Autographs in the Department of Manuscripts, British Museum (First Series in two parts, London, 1895 & 1898)

SCOTT, Henry T. : Autograph Collecting : A Practical Manual for Amateurs & Historical Students (London, 1894)

SCOTT, Rev. Dr. & DAVEY, Samuel : A Guide to the Collector of Historical Documents, Literary Manuscripts and Autograph Letters (London, 1891)

SIMS, George R. : Among My Autographs (London, 1904)

STEAD, William T. (Ed.) : Portraits and Autographs : An Album for the People (London, 1890)

STEAD, William T. (Ed.) : Notables of Britain - An album of Portraits and Autographs of the Most Eminent Subjects of Her Majesty in the 60th Year of Her Reign (London, 1897)

SULLIVAN, George : Making Money in Autographs (New York, 1977)

TAYLOR, John M. : History in Your Hand - Fifty Years of the Manuscript Society (Connecticut, 1997)

TAYLOR, Priscilla S. (Ed.) : Manuscripts - The First Twenty Years (Connecticut, 1984)

TEGG, William (Pub.) : Facsimiles of All the different Signatures of the Emperor Napoleon I (Second Edition, Revised, London, 1875)

THOYTS, E. E. : How to Read Old Documents (Christchurch, 1972)

TOMPKINS, Peter (Ed.) : To A Young Actress - The Letters of Bernard Shaw to Molly Tompkins (New York, 1960)

VRZALIK, Larry F. & MINOR, Michael : From the President’s Pen - An Illustrated Guide to Presidential Autographs (Texas, 1991)

WILLIAMS, Robert : Adventures of an Autograph Collector (New York, 1952)

Further Reading