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FROM THE LIBRARY
OF F. VON BOSCHAN



CHATS ON
AUTOGRAPHS



BOOKS FOR COLLECTORS

With Coloured Frontispieces and many Illustrations.
Large Crown 8vo, cloth.

CHATS ON ENGLISH CHINA.
By ARTHUR HAYDEN.

CHATS ON OLD FURNITURE.
By ARTHUR HAYDEN.

CHATS ON OLD PRINTS.
By ARTHUR HAYDEN.

CHATS ON OLD SILVER.
By E. L. LOWES.

CHATS ON COSTUME.

By G. WOOLLISCROFT RHEAD.

CHATS ON OLD LACE AND
NEEDLEWORK.
By E. L. LOWES.

CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA.
By J. F. BLACKER.

CHATS ON MINIATURES.
By J. J. FOSTER.

CHATS ON ENGLISH EARTHENWARE.

By ARTHUR HAYDEN.
(Companion Volume to " Chats on English China.")

CHATS ON AUTOGRAPHS.
By A. M. BROADLEY.



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A.L.S. OF WILLIAM WILSON, AN ACTOR OF THE "FORTUNE
THEATRE, TO EDWARD ALLEYN, OF DULWICH, l62O.



Frontispiece.



BY

A. M. ^ROADLEY

AUTHOR OF " DR. JOHNSON AND MRS. THRALE," JOINT AUTHOR OF

"NAPOLEON AND THE INVASION OF ENGLAND," "NELSON'S

HARDY," "DUMOURIEZ AND THE DEFENCE OF

ENGLAND AGAINST NAPOLEON,"

ETC., ETC.



WITH ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FIVE ILLUSTRATIONS



"An Autograph Collection may be made an admirable
adjunct to the study of History and Biography "

L. J. CIST
[Preface to Tefft Catalogue, 1866]



LONDON
T. FISHER UNWIN

ADELPHI TERRACE
MCMX




D.C.L., M.D., F.R.C.P.

HON. FELLOW OF DOWNING COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE,

FIRST DEPUTY CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WALES,

AND VICE-CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL,

A ROYAL AND FREE CITY, RENOWNED FOR THE

RICHNESS OF ITS ARCHIVES, AND ITS CLOSE

ASSOCIATION WITH MEN OF LETTERS,

THIS VOLUME IS, WITH HIS PERMISSION, INSCRIBED

BY THE AUTHOR.

THE KNAPP, BRADPOLE, May 6, 1910.



[All rights reserved]



PREFACE



"Life is a leaf of paper white
Whereon each one of us may write
His word or two then comes the night."

LOWELL.

MR. T. FISHER UNWIN has asked me to " chat " on
autographs and autograph collecting. Fifteen years
ago the late Dr. George Birkbeck Hill " talked " on
the same subject in compliance with a similar request.
Still more recently Mr. Adrian H. Joline, of New
York, has given the world his " meditations " on a
pursuit which another American unkindly describes
as "that dreadful fever," but which Mr. Joline, as
well as the present writer, regards in the light of
" the most gentle of emotions." Mr. Joline ex-
pressed, on the first page of his interesting book, a
profound conviction that nobody could by any
possibility be persuaded to read it unless already
interested in the topic with which it so effectively
deals. One of the principal objects of the causeries
I have undertaken to write is to reach, if possible,
a public to which the peculiar fascination and in-
describable excitement of the autograph cult are
still unknown, and to demonstrate (to a certain
extent from my own personal experience), the
practical utility, as well as the possibilities of



8 PREFACE

material profit, inherent in this particular form of
literary treasure-trove. For the benefit of the un-
initiated (and in this case the uninitiated are in a
vast majority) it is necessary at the onset to
differentiate between the " Autograph Fiend " (the
phrase is, I believe, American in its origin), who
pesters, often with unpardonable persistence, well-
known personages for their signatures in albums
or on photographs, and the discriminating collector
who accumulates for the benefit of posterity either
important documents or the letters of famous men.
" Nothing," writes Horace Walpole, "gives us so just
an idea of an age as genuine letters, nay history waits
for its last seal from them."

Adopting the words of one of the most gifted
letter-writers who ever lived as a text, let me clearly
define an autograph for the purposes of these pages
to be :

A letter or document written or signed by any given
person.

An autograph collector, as I understand the term,
is one who acquires and arranges documents of the
sort now described. A collector of autograph signa-
tures has nothing in common with the scientific
autograph collector. Those who deliberately cut
signatures from important letters are in reality the
worst enemies both of the autograph collector and
the historian. Vandalism of this kind (often com-
mitted in happy unconsciousness of the consequences)
brings with it its own punishment, for detached
signatures are almost worthless. Many years ago a
dealer was offered sixteen genuine signatures of
Samuel Pepys, their owner nalfvely remarking that
"he had cut them from the letters to save trouble"
As a matter of fact he had in the course of a few



PREFACE 9

seconds depreciated the value of his property to the
extent of at least i 50. The letters (if intact) would
have fetched from 15 to 20 each! "Album
Specimens " the results of the misplaced energy of
the "autograph hunter," are of very little value as
compared with holograph letters, and collections of
this kind, although often elaborately bound up and
provided with a lock and key, generally prove a
woeful disappointment to the representatives of those
who bestowed so much time and trouble on their
formation. Collections of " franks," or the signatures
in virtue of which Peers and Members of the House
of Commons prior to 1840 could transmit letters
through the post free of charge, must not be classed
with those of " clipped " or isolated signatures.
"Frank Collections" were often very interesting,
and in the early years of the nineteenth century
many well-known people devoted much time and
trouble to their completion. The subject will be
further alluded to in my text.

Although a personal element must of necessity
pervade to some extent, at least, my chats on
autographs, it is obvious that the subject is one
which necessitates the greatest discretion. I shall
carefully refrain from using any letter which has
ever been addressed to me personally, although I
have ventured to reproduce the signature of H.R.H.
Ismail Pacha, one of the most remarkable men of his
time, and that of Arabi Pacha, for whom I acted as
counsel before the court-martial held at Cairo on
December 2, 1882. Between 1884 and 1889 I was in
constant correspondence with the late ex-Khedive
Ismail, and from 1883 down to the present day I
have frequently exchanged letters with my once
celebrated Egyptian client, who returned from exile



10 PREFACE

some five years ago to spend the rest of his life in
Cairo. Nor shall I, with one or two exceptions, give
in extenso the letters of any living person, or letters
which can possibly give pain or concern to others.
Those who carefully study, as I do, the catalogues
issued from time to time by dealers in autographs,
both in this country and abroad, must often be
astonished at the rapidity with which the letters
of Royal and other illustrious personages " come into
the market." At the death of a well-known authoress
a few years ago the whole of the letters addressed to
her were sold en bloc. I was not surprised to learn
that the appearance of these " specimens " was the
cause of much consternation and many heart-burnings.
The present age is essentially one of " collecting,"
and I hope to convince those who are interested in
collecting generally, but have not yet included auto-
graphs in their sphere of operations, that a great
opportunity awaits them, and that no form of
collecting, either from a literary or antiquarian
point of view, possesses greater charm or greater
possibilities. In his recent works on the private life
of Napoleon, M. Fre"dric Masson has shown the
inestimable value of autograph letters to the historian,
and it is from unpublished and hitherto unknown
MSS. in public and private collections that Dr. J.
Holland Rose has obtained much of the new infor-
mation which will give exceptional value to his
forthcoming " Life of Pitt." If there is, as Mr.
Adrian Joline points out, an abundance of "gentle
emotion " to be found in the cult of the autograph,
there is also no lack of pleasurable excitement. If
autograph frauds, forgeries, and fakes are abundant,
autograph "finds" are equally so. There is an in-
describable pleasure in the detection of the former,




JL't



^-/X 2 *""



SIGNATURES OF THE EGYPTIAN CLIENTS OF THE AUTHOR, 1882-1888,
H.R.H. THE KHEDIVE ISMAIL; H.R.H. PRINCE IBRAHIM HILMY,

HIS SON, AND ARABI PACHA.
(The latter in both Arabic and English.)

11



12 PREFACE

and an amount of enjoyable excitement con-
nected with the latter, which none but the keen
collector can entirely realise. Having convinced the
antiquarian of the quite exceptional value of the
autograph as a collecting subject, I shall hope to
show my readers how they may most rapidly and
most economically obtain that special knowledge
necessary to become an expert. The autograph
market, as at present constituted, is a very small
one, but it is growing rapidly, and there is at
this moment no better investment than the highest
class of historical and literary autographs, pro-
vided one exercises proper discretion in purchasing
and is content to wait for opportunities which
often occur. The truth of my assertion as to the
possibilities of profit in autograph collecting was
never more clearly demonstrated than at the
sale, in December, 1909, of the library of Mr.
Louis J. Haber, of New York City, which was con-
ducted by the Anderson Auction Company. Two
days were exclusively devoted to autographs, and
Mr. Haber has subsequently communicated to me
a complete list of the prices at which he bought and
sold the literary rariora now dispersed. The sen-
sation of the sale was the selling of a letter of John
Keats for $oo. For this letter (an exceptionally
fine and interesting one) Mr. Haber originally paid
25. Nevertheless, as I shall have occasion to point
out, the English collector might have picked up some
bargains at the Haber sale. An autograph poem by
Edmund Burke, written in 1749, was sold for 4 8s.,
and I envy the purchaser of the characteristic letter
of Lord Chesterfield, knocked down to some fortunate
bidder for 3 8s. I do not hesitate to say that the
Burke poem and the Chesterfield letter would have



PREFACE 13

fetched double the prices realised at Sotheby's. A
letter of Mrs. Piozzi's (not improved by inlaying)
fetched 8 I2s. Mr. Haber gave 2 8s. for it, and I
have bought a dozen equally good Piozzi letters at
considerably less than that

The bonne camaraderie which exists amongst auto-
graph collectors is exemplified by the ready assistance
rendered me in the preparation of my " chats." Dr.
H. T. Scott, who has devoted the greater part of his
life to the practical study of the subject, has given me
many valuable hints ; Mr. Telamon Cuyler, the future
historian of Georgia, has rendered me important
help in the matter of American autographs and
autograph collecting; Mr. Charles De F. Burns, of
New York, has given me (through Mr. Cuyler) most
interesting data concerning the development of a
fondness for autographs in the United States ; while
Dr. Thos. Addis Emmet has sent me the catalogue
of his unrivalled collection of American MSS. now in
the Lenox Library, New York. I tender my best
thanks for the aid in various directions which I have
received from Mr. Bernard Quaritch ; Mr. Turner,
President of the Anderson Auction Company, New
York ; Mr. Goodspeed, of Boston ; Monsieur Noel
Charavay, of Paris ; Messrs. Maggs, Mr. J. H. Stone-
house, of Messrs. Sotheran, and Mr. W. V. Daniell ;
while Professor M. Gerothwohl, LittD., of the
University of Bristol, has kindly translated the im-
portant letter of the Empress Catharine of Russia,
and one or two other difficult examples of eighteenth-
century French. My acknowledgments are also due
to Mr. John Lane and Messrs. Harper Brothers, who
have kindly allowed me to use certain illustrations,
originally given in my books published by them ; as
well as to the proprietors of The Country Home for



14 PREFACE

allowing me to reproduce some of the autographs
which first appeared in connection with the articles I
have had the honour to contribute to that journal.

If I succeed in awakening an extended and more
intelligent interest in autographs and autograph
collecting, I shall have done something in my
generation to help future historians, whose task
must, of necessity, become increasingly difficult as
time goes on. When I " commenced " collecting on
my own account, to borrow an old-world, eighteenth-
century phrase, I was literally groping in the dark,
and necessity compelled me to buy my experience.
I do not think I purchased it dearly. M. Noel
Charavay thinks all good judges of autographs are
near-sighted, and possibly this helped me in the early
stages of my collecting career to distinguish the
genuine article from a forged imitation. By attending
to the hints which I shall give in the proper place
the young collector will soon be able to recognise
the original from the counterfeit. As the values
of autographs increase (as they are sure to do) the
temptation to forgery becomes greater, and con-
sequently the application of the maxim caveat emptor
more urgent. Respectable autograph dealers
guarantee the letters they sell, but even experts are
occasionally mistaken. Quite recently I lighted on a
letter of Archbishop Fe"nelon in America, and thought
I had secured a bargain. The source from which it
came was unimpeachable, but M. Noel Charavay
immediately confirmed my opinion that it was a
lithographic forgery. There is, at any rate, one
privilege that the autograph collector alone enjoys.
It is difficult to say that any particular piece of china,
medal, coin, print, or postage stamp is unique. There
is always the danger of a duplicate turning up. With



PREFACE 15

autograph letters, on the other hand, each specimen
may fairly be described as " absolutely unique." I
have only once met with an exception to this rule.
Some twenty days before his death Charles Dickens
wrote a letter in duplicate to Buckstone the actor.
To avoid the possibility of its miscarrying one was
addressed to the theatre, and the other to Sydenham.
I have the former and should much like to know
what has become of the other, but even in this case
the letters are not precisely identical.

So vast is the range of autographs (taking the
subject as a whole and the term in its broadest
sense) that the collector of the rising generation will
do well to limit his sphere of operations to one
particular subject or locality. It is only by doing
this he can hope to arrive at anything like finality, or
to make his acquisitions really useful from an histori-
cal point of view. Let him make the worthies of his
own county, or birthplace, or calling the objective of
his researches, and he will soon feel encouraged to go
further afield. As long ago as 1855 a writer in the
Athen&um remarked that "the story of what history
owes to the autograph collector would make a pretty
book." The present and future possibilities of auto-
graph collecting as the handmaiden of history-making
cannot be more forcibly illustrated than by the perusal
of the marvellous catalogue issued by Messrs. Pearson,
of Pall Mall Place, while these pages were going
through the press. Here we have a collection of
autographs by English sovereigns valued at 1,600,
one of musical composers priced at 2,500, and
another of 105 letters by great artists, beginning with
Antonio del Pollajuolo (born in 1426) and ending
with Corot, who died in 1875, for which 3,500, or
an average price of 35 each is asked. Modern

2



16 PREFACE

historians will possibly be more interested in the
portfolios of unpublished letters by Marlborough,
Burke, and Pitt, of which the House of Pearson is at
present the custodian. Without reference to them it
will be impossible to say that the last word has been
said about these three great men, who played in turn
so important a part in our national annals. Their
ultimate owner may have the opportunity of assisting
the historian in the manner I have ventured to
indicate.

A. M. BROADLEY.



CONTENTS



PREFACE



CHAPTER I

PAOB

ON AUTOGRAPH COLLECTING GENERALLY . , 2^

Autograph collecting in relation to kindred hobbies The
genesis of the autograph Examples of the alba amicorum
of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries The conscript
fathers of autograph collecting Franks and their votaries
Album specimens and their value The autograph-hunter
and his unconscious victims Anecdotes of some recent
autograph " draws."



CHAPTER II

THE MODERN AUTOGRAPH COLLECTOR AND HIS

EQUIPMENT . . . . . 51

Useful books on autographs Collections of autograph
facsimiles The autograph markets of London and Paris
Variations in price Autograph catalogues and dealers
The treatment and classification of autographs.

CHAPTER III
THE CAVEAT EMPTOR OF AUTOGRAPH COLLECTING . 71

Forgeries and fakes Cases of mistaken identity Some

famous autograph frauds Practical methods of detection.

17



18 CONTENTS

CHAPTER IV

PAGE

SOME FAMOUS AUTOGRAPH " FINDS " . . -93

Personal reminiscences and experiences.

CHAPTER V

ROYAL AUTOGRAPHS PAST AND PRESENT THE COPY-
BOOKS OF KINGS AND PRINCES . "3

Some unpublished specimens of the handwriting of Royal
Personages present and past.



CHAPTER VI
THE AUTOGRAPHS OF STATECRAFT, SOCIETY, AND

DIPLOMACY . . . . .169

Unpublished letters of the two Pitts, Lord Chesterfield,
and Lord Stanhope.



CHAPTER VII
THE LITERARY AUTOGRAPHS OF THREE CENTURIES . 193

From the days of Shakespeare and Spenser to those of
Thackeray, Dickens, Tennyson, and Meredith The value
of literary autographs and MSS.

CHAPTER VIII

NAVAL AND MILITARY AUTOGRAPHS . . -235

Unpublished letters of celebrated sailors and soldiers.

CHAPTER IX

AUTOGRAPHS OF MUSIC, THE DRAMA, AND ART . 255

Illustrated letters.



CONTENTS 19

CHAPTER X

PAGE

AUTOGRAPH COLLECTING IN FRANCE . . . 289

Autograph letters of Napoleon His associates and con-
temporaries Other French autographs.

CHAPTER XI
A CENTURY OF AMERICAN AUTOGRAPH COLLECTING . 317

The great collectors and collections of the United States
The autograph sale-rooms of New York, Boston, and
Philadelphia.

CHAPTER XII
THE PRICES OF AUTOGRAPHS AND THEIR VARIATIONS . 345

William Upcott and his contemporaries Sale prices 1810-
1910.

INDEX ....... 378



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS



A.L.S. of William Wilson, an Actor of the " Fortune " Theatre,

to Edward Alleyn, of Dulwich, 1620 . . . Frontispiece

PAGE

Signatures of the Egyptian Clients of the Author, 1882-1888,
H.R.H. the Khedive Ismail ; H.R.H. Prince Ibrahim Hilray,
his Son, and Arabi Pacha . . . . .II

Last page of A.L.S. of Elizabeth Chudleigh, Duchess of Kingston,

at St. Petersburg, to Miss Chudleigh, at Bath . . .29

Warrant signed by Warren Hastings, Philip Francis, Edward

Wheeler, and Eyre Coote, May 31, 1780 . . -30

A.L.S. obtained from Cardinal Newman by an Autograph-hunter,

September 4, 1870 . . . . . -43

Two pages of A.L.S. of Sir John Tenniel, of PuntA, obtained by

an Autograph-hunter, October 13, 1903 . . -45

From the Prelude of " Gerontius," MS. Bars signed by Sir

Edward Elgar, September, 1900 . . . . 49

Facsimile of the Historic Letter from George Crabbe to Edmund

Burke . . . . . . . .63

The Autograph of Ludwig van Beethoven . . .64

First page of A.L.S. of Dr. Johnson to Sir Joshua Reynolds on the

subject of Crabbe's Poems, 1783 . . . -74

Lines of Thomas Chatterton on Horace Walpole, which cost

Sir George White, of Bristol, ^34 . . . -74

A Specimen of Ireland's Shakespearean Forgeries attested by

himself . . .... 77

William Ireland's Attestation of his Forgeries of Shakespeare's

Signature . . . . . . -79

Forged Letter of W. M. Thackeray, in which his later Hand-
writing is imitated . . . . . '83

Two pages of a Letter by Lord Brougham to E. Arago, offering to
become a Naturalised Frenchman and a Candidate for the
French Chambers . . . . . -99

Specimen page of the Dumouriez MS. discovered by the Writer . 102



22 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Original Dispatch of Lord Cawdor to Duke of Portland describing

the Landing and Surrender of the French at Fishguard,

February, 1797 ...... 103

MS. Verses on Trafalgar in the Handwriting of Charles Dibdin,

1805 . . . . . . . ,107

Bulletin issued a week after the birth of King Edward VII. and

signed by the Medical Men in attendance, November 16,

1841 . i . . . . . . 114

Order to the Duke of Beaufort to destroy Keynsham Bridge, near

Bristol, on the approach of Monmouth, signed by King

James II., June 21, 1685 . . . . .115

A.L.S. of the Electress Sophia of Hanover to the Duke of Leeds,

October 19, 1710 . . . . . .116

A.L.S. of King George III. on the Subject of the Defence of

England in the early stages of the Great Terror of 1796-1805 . 119
Commission signed by Oliver Cromwell, October 20, 1651 .121

Signature of Lord Protector Richard Cromwell to a Commission,

January, 1658 ....... 122

Fourteen lines in the Writing of Napoleon on Military Order,

with his Signature, July 3, 1803 . . . .123

Autograph of Henry VII., King of England (1456-1509) . . 127

A.L.S. of King William III. from Camp before Namur, July 13,

I79S 128

Last page of A.L.S. of Empress Catherine of Russia to

Mrs. de Bielke, of Hamburg, July 28, 1767 . .128

One of the earliest Signatures of Louis XIV. (aged six) . .135

Interesting A.L.S. of Louis XVI. to the Chemist Lavoisier on

the subject of the Discovery of Inflammable Gas, Versailles,

March 15, 1789 ...... 136

A.L.S. of King George III. to Sir Samuel Hood (afterwards Lord

Hood), June 13, 1779 137

A.L.S. of King George III. written four days before the Battle

of Trafalgar . . . . . . .141

A.L.S. of Queen Alexandra to Mrs. Gladstone, December 7,

1888 . . . . . . . .145

Queen Victoria's Order on a Letter of Sir Henry Ponsonby,

April 26, 1894 ...... 146

One of the last Letters written by Queen Victoria, addressed to

General Sir George White, of Ladysmith . . . 147

Autograph Telegram from the late Prince Albert Victor of Wales

to his Grandmother, Queen Victoria .... 149
Holograph Telegram of the Duke of Connaught to Queen

Victoria, St. Petersburg, May 26, 1896 . . . 150

One page of A.L.S. of Queen Victoria to her elder Daughter,

aged six, October 21, 1846 . . . . '153

First page of A.L.S. of the Duchess of Kent to her Grandson,

King Edward VII., aged eight, August 26, 1849 *54



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 23

PAGE

First page of A.L.S. of Queen Adelaide to her Great-niece, the

late Empress Frederick of Germany, circa 1848 . . 157

Page of Register containing the Signatures of Contracting Parties

and Witnesses at the Marriage of King Edward VII. and

Queen Alexandra, 1863 . . . . .158

Page from the MS. Remark-book of Prince William Henry

(afterwards King William IV.), in which he begins to describe

New York, January, 1781 . . . . . 159

Page of Exercise Book of King George IV. at the age of twelve . 159
Drawing by Charlotte, Empress of Mexico, dated Lacken, 1850 . 160
A sheet from the Copy-book of the Emperor Alexander II. of

Russia when a boy ...... 160

A.L.S. of Queen Charlotte to Mr. Penn, of Portland, November

19, 1813 . . . . . . .163

First page of A.L.S. by Albert, Prince Consort, to General

Peel, 1858 . . . . . . .165

Exercise of the late King Edward VII. when ten years old,

December 17, 1851 ...... 166

Exercise of the late Duke of Coburg (Prince Alfred) at the age of

eight . . . . . . . .166

One page of A.L.S. of King George V., when Duke of York to

the late Duchess Dowager of Manchester, February 22, 1886 . 167
One page of A.L.S. of Queen Mary, while Duchess of York,

to a friend, May 24, 1900 ..... 168
First page of A.L S. of the Empress Frederick of Germany to

Mr. Prothero, February 22, 1889 . . . .168

Last page of unpublished Holograph Poem in Handwriting of

William Pitt, May, 1771 . . . . 177

Last Whip issued by William Pitt and signed by him, December 31,

1805 . . . . . . . .178

Signature of Sir Isaac Heard, Garter, on Card of Admission to the

Funeral of William Pitt, 1806 . . . . .178

A.L.S. of Earl of Chesterfield, October 8, 1771, describing the

Inaugural Ball at the new Bath Assembly Rooms . . 183

One page of A.L.S. from Mr. W. E. Gladstone at Balmoral to

Cardinal Manning, n.d. . . . . .188

One Page of A.L.S. of Mr. Disraeli (afterwards Lord Beaconsfield)

on Church matters, n.d. . . . . .191

The Signature of Shakespeare on the last page of his Will . . 196