Reference Sources and Research
Reference Books - Insights into the hobby can be found through active associations, online communities, dealers and their websites, and reference books. Despite the vibrancy of the hobby, reference books can often be difficult to find, especially in traditional bookstores. Many are out-of-print but can be located with a bit of searching or some dealer inventories, including this site. Older books include outdated market prices but are useful in understanding how the hobby has developed. A few examples of some worthwhile starting points and general guides:
Advanced Autograph Collecting – Mark Allen Baker (2000) This offers hundreds of facsimiles and brief summaries of material from many individuals in different fields. Perhaps most interesting are the chapters on the history of collecting, forgeries, paper and inks.
Autograph Hell : The Truth About Collecting – Charles G. Irion (2008). This is a devastating, perhaps too cynical, look at the hobby. It is less about how to collect and more about how collectors can be burned. The lessons though can save every collector, particularly new collectors. The key lessons are deal with reputable dealers and arm yourselves with your own research. A particularly good lesson for beginners is the unwarranted assurances from certificates of authenticity and authentication services.
Autographs and Manuscripts: A Collector’s Manual – The Manuscript Society, edited by Edmund Berkeley, Jr. (1978). This is an anthology of outstanding articles from experts on various fields of collecting historic autographs.
Collecting Historical Autographs – Ron Keurajian (2017). A general introduction to collecting and perhaps the most current survey of popular collecting fields. This is one of the better guides and fortunately one of the more recent with market values that are relatively current to today’s market .
Forging History - Kenneth W. Rendell (1994). One of the legendary experts on historic autographs offers an essential, even if sometimes technical, guide on forgeries and authentication. Rendell has authored several books on autographs and historical fields such as western expansion, World War II and most recently a wonderful autobiography. All are worth reading, even if some are not specific to autographs.
From The President’s Pen – Larry Vrzalik and Michael Minor (1991), this focuses on the most popular specialty of historic autograph collectors- the presidents. It also includes an early signature study of Lyndon B Johnson’s autographs.
From The White House Inkwell – John M Taylor (1968 and revised in 1989) another look at the specialty field of presidents. The revised edition includes the original and then adds material from Nixon through George H. W. Bush.
History Comes to Life – Kenneth W. Rendell (1995). This is a general survey of various collecting fields.
In the Presence of History: The Authoritative Guide to Historical Autographs For Collectors, History Enthusiasts and Investors – Stephen and Jonas Raab, with Nathan Raab, (2009). A solid introductory guide to historical autographs with a particularly nice section on the history of collecting.
Some classics from pioneering dealers are dated but many of the lessons endure and the stories are wonderful. If there were a cannon of autograph reference books it would include all of these below and most of the above .
Autographs: A Key to Collecting – Mary Benjamin (1946, reprinted in 1963)
Word Shadows of The Great – Thomas F. Madigan (1930). Almost 100 years old, this is still a classic that set the tone for subsequent introductions to the hobby. Some information is still helpful but it should be read for better understanding of how the market for historic autographs was built in the last century.
Charles Hamilton – almost any book by this expert is worth having, but especially:
American Autographs (1983). This is an expensive, somewhat scarce, two-volume set on the reference shelves of most serious collectors of presidents or colonial leaders. It is not an introductory guide for new collectors but essential for advanced collectors in those fields.
Collecting Autographs and Manuscripts (1961 and revised in 1993). The revised edition includes the complete original general introduction to collecting but is updated with information on new fields which became more popular after the first edition.
Great Forgers and Famous Fakes (1980). Amusing stories and sobering lessons about the need to buy with some healthy wariness about deals too good to be true and the importance of self-education in collecting.
Scribblers and Scoundrels (1968) Similar in style and subjects to Great Forgers although this also takes a look at some unethical practices in the hobby.
The Signatures of America (1979). This offers thousands of facsimiles with some brief overview of various collecting fields.