Chapter II: Preface: 7

CHAPTER I

PAGE

ON AUTOGRAPH COLLECTING GENERALLY 27

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.

CHAPTER IV

SOME FAMOUS AUTOGRAPH "FINDS" 93

Personal reminiscences and experiences.

CHAPTER V

ROYAL AUTOGRAPHS PAST AND PRESENT--THE COPY-BOOKS OF KINGS
AND PRINCES 113

Some unpublished specimens of the handwriting of Royal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Unpublished letters of the two Pitts, Lord Chesterfield, and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Unpublished letters of celebrated sailors and soldiers.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.

CHAPTER X

AUTOGRAPH COLLECTING IN FRANCE 289

Autograph letters of Napoleon--His associates and
contemporaries--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.