AUTOGRAPHS.

THE collection of Autographs seems to have begun about the middle of the sixteenth century. The Germans claim that the custom first originated in their country. I know of no reason to deny them this honor; and I cheerfully accord to them the right of sharing it in common with the renown of giving to mankind the three great elements of modern civilisation-printing, gunpowder, and the Protestant religion, and of being the first to catch the light of Shakspeare's genius and to reflect it upon the world.

The custom is said to have originated among travellers, who carried with them a book or album for the purpose of securing the signatures of distinguished persons. The oldest book of this kind is dated 1558. It is in the British Museum, the repository of the most valuable collection of Autographs in the world.

Magna Charta, granted in 1215, is also deposited there. This instrument serves to establish the fact that neither the king nor any of his nobles could write their own names. The signature of Shakspeare is perhaps the most precious of all autographic treasures. Five of his autographs,

known to be genuine, have been preserved. One of them is his last will and testament, and is deposited at Doctors' Commons, London. It bears his signature in three places.

A number of scholars have tried to establish the theory that the character may be determined by the rapid writing.

Their arguments, however, are entitled to but little consideration.

Hood, in one of his essays, makes a good deal of sport of a gentleman who asked him for his autograph. He pretended not to know what kind he wanted. He said autographs were of many kinds. For instance, charity boys write theirs on large pieces of paper, illuminated with. engraving; Draco wrote his, to oblige Themis, in human blood, and servants sometimes have a habit of scrawling autographs on a tea-board with slopped milk. He concluded by telling the gentleman that as he had not sent him a brick wall, or a looking-glass, or a bill-stamp, or a kitchen-door, that he supposed he wanted a common pen, ink, and paper autograph; but in the absence of any particular direction for transmitting it, either by a carrierpigeon or in a fire-balloon, &c., he would send him one in print. Hood was fully aware of the dignity of the profession of the genuine autographic collector, but could not resist the temptation of indulging in his quaint and inimitable humor.

The collection of Autographs, pursued in the proper spirit, cannot do otherwise than increase historical and biographical knowledge.

One of the most distinguished collectors in the United States is Mr. L. J. Cist, of St. Louis. He is not only a fine scholar, but one of the best judges of the genuineness of letters and manuscripts in the country. He was for many years a resident of Cincinnati, and is the author of a volume of delightful poems. I had heard so much of hist famous collection that I felt no little curiosity to examine it and to talk with him about it. I went to St. Louis a few years ago, and had the pleasure of making his acquaintance. He received me with the utmost kindness and cordiality. The subject of Autographs was soon introduced,

and in a few moments I found myself surrounded by his priceless treasures. He informed me that he began his collection more than thirty years ago. He said that he came accidentally into the possession of the signatures of three Presidents of the United States - Madison, Monroe, and John Q. Adams. These led him to wish for others. He then undertook to make a small collection of some of the most prominent living American statesmen and authors, in which he succeeded.

His collection now comprises about twelve thousand letters and documents, written or signed, of which about one-half are American, the rest European, with a small sprinkling of Asiatic and African (the King of Siam, Rammohun Roy, Hussein, the last Dey of Algiers, the Presidents of Liberia, &c., &c.), illustrated with about eight thousand engraved portraits and views, and not less than fifty thousand newspaper-cuttings containing biographical, historical and anecdotal matters of interest relating to the persons whose autographs they illustrate, classified as follows:

Colonial and Royal Governors, Proprietaries, Judges, Statesmen, &c., before the Revolution, in which may be found the autographs of more than one hundred and fifty of the original founders, proprietors, and early Governors of the thirteen colonies from 1630 to 1776, including such names. as Roger Williams, Duke of York (James I.), Lord Berkeley, Sir George Carteret, William Penn and sons, Cecil Lord Baltimore, and General Oglethorpe, founders or proprietaries. Of the Governors of Massachusetts from John Endicott, John Winthrop, and Sir Henry Vane, down to Hutchinson and Gage, the last two Royal Governors of Massachusetts, wanting only John Haynes (Governor from 1635 to

1636) to be complete. Of New York, Peter Stuyvesant (an autograph letter), Sir Edmund Andros (an autograph letter), Thomas Dongan, Jacob Leisler, Sir Charles Hardy, DeLancey, Cadwallader Colden, General Monckton, Lord Dunmore, and the last Royal Governor Tryon. Of Pennsylvania, Thomas, Richard, and John Penn, Lloyd, Markham, James Logan (from whom the famous chief was named), and others. Spottiswood, Drysdale, Dinwiddie, Fauquier, &c., of Virginia; Dobbs, Tryon, Craven, Middleton, Francis Nicholson, Reynolds, Wright, and others of North and South Carolina and Georgia.

Of Statesmen and Judges, are Chief-Justice Samuel Sewall, of Massachusetts; also the Judges who tried, and Geo. Corwin, the sheriff who hung the witches at Salem; Col. James Otis, the elder (father of the great orator and patriot), the Delancys (Oliver, Stephen, and James); leading men of New York in old Colony times, &c., &c.

Here also may be found two very rare documents of special interest to typos, the first being

"The humble memorial of William Bradford, printer, to the Governor and Council of the Province of New York, etc., sheweth : "That the tenth day of this instant, January, there was one quarter's salary due to him, and humbly prays that it may be allowed.

And, further: That, whereas, he came to serve their Majesties in this government by printing such things as there might be occasion of for their Majesties' service," &c., he goes on to state that "he has printed for their said Majesties' service as much as hath stood him in £50 charge, and not sold of the same to the value of £5," &c., and therefore humbly prays their favorable consideration of the same, and subscribes himself, &c.

This rare and precious relic of the first printer of Pennsylvania and New York is unfortunately not dated, but as "their Majesties" alluded to were William and Mary, the memorial must have been written between the years 1693 (in which Bradford came to New York) and 1695, in

which Queen Mary died. Bradford was born in England in 1659, came to America in 1683, and landed where Philadelphia now stands, before a house was built there.

He was the first printer there, and in 1687 published an almanac. He removed to New York city in 1693, and was for thirty years the only printer in the Province, now State. of New York, and in 1725 started the New York Gazette, the first newspaper published there. He died May 23, 1752, at the ripe old age of ninety-three.

The other interesting typographical document of early date referred to, is a short note from James Franklin, the elder brother of Ben. Franklin, with whom the latter served his apprenticeship and learned the trade of a printer. He started in 1722, at Boston, the New-England Courant, which was the third newspaper ever started in America. He afterward, in 1732, published the Rhode Island Gazette, the first paper published in the Province of Rhode Island.

Any one familiar with the well-known chirography of Dr. Franklin, looking at this paper, will be struck by the remarkable similarity in the style of handwriting of the two brothers. Probably Benjamin, who was younger than James, was taught to write by his brother. If so, the pupil afterward far excelled his master in this as in most other acquirements.

Next we have in this division the Generals and officers of the French and Indian Colonial wars, including all the British Generals commanding-in-chief in America from 1755 to 1775, viz., Braddock, Shirley, Loudoun, Abercrombie, Amherst, and Gage, together with many Colonial officers of distinction, such as Sir William Pepperell, Sir William Johnson, Generals Dwight, Waldo, Winslow, Col. Ephraim Williams, and others.

Two other series belonging to Colonial times and his