757 



AUTOGRAPH. 



AUTOMATON. 



768 



This word, in relation to manuscripts, is used in opposition to an 

 apograph, or copy. 



Collections of autographs, as the handwritings of individual persons, 

 had their origin about the middle of the 16th century in Germany, 

 where the gentry, and especially persons who travelled, carried about 

 with them white-paper books, to obtain and preserve in them the 

 signatures of persons of eminence, or new acquaintance ; when such a 

 book received most generally the name of Album ; though it was 

 sometimes called ' Hortus,' or ' Thesaurus Amicorum." Persons who 

 travelled, it is to be observed, showed, by such means, what sort of 

 company they had kept. (See the facts mentioned in Izaak Walton's 

 ' Life of Sir Henry Wotton,' Reliq. Wotton. edit. 1651 ; and Wanley's 

 ' Account of the Harleian Manuscript 933, in His Catalogue.') These 

 albums are frequently found in the manuscript libraries of Europe. 

 Several are preserved in the British Museum, and some are adorned 

 with splendid illuminations, one, which is now exhibited to the public, 

 is the ' Album Amicorum ' of Christopher Arnold of Nuremberg, con- 

 taining a collection of German and English autographs, among which is 

 one of John Milton,iwith a sentence in Greek, dated London, November 

 19, 1651. The oldest (MS. Sloan. 851) bears a date as early as 1578, 

 and appears to have belonged to a lady : others will be found in the 

 MSS., Sloan. 2035, 2360, 2597, 3415, 3416. There is one alSo in 

 the same repository, preserved in the library which belonged to 

 George III., evidently made for Charles I., with whose and hia queen's 

 mottoes and signatures it opens. " 1626. Si vis omnia subjicere, 

 subjice te ration!, Carolus, R." " En Dieu est mon espeVance, Hen- 

 riette Marie, R." The other signatures with short sentences, English 

 and foreign, are numerous, all upon paper, but with alternate leaves 

 of vellum, bearing rich illuminations of the arms of the respective 

 parties inserted. Amongst them are the signature and arms of Charlotte 

 de Trdmouille, countess of Derby, afterwards the celebrated def endress 

 of Latham House. 



The earliest royal autograph of England, now known, is the small 

 figure of a cross, made by the hand of king William Rufus, in the 

 centre of a charter, by which the manor of Lambeth was granted to 

 the church of Rochester. This charter is preserved amongst those 

 which were bequeathed some years ago to the British Museum by 

 Lord Frederick Campbell. The next royal autograph known is Le 

 Roy R. ., the signature of Richard II., affixed to two documents, 

 one preserved in the archives of the Tower of London, the other 

 relating to the surrender of Brest, among the Cottonian manuscripts. 

 From his time the royal signatures of England continue in uninter- 

 rupted succession. 



We sometimes read of the signing of Magna Charta, which really 

 means the sealing ; a signature at that period was not the authentic 

 attestation of an instrument, or even of a letter. 



Autographs possess some interest, but not in themselves as historical 

 documents ; such an interest is independent of the autograph ; but the 

 handwriting of an eminent person, as the production of his mental and 

 bodily powers, is the most peculiarly his own, and therefore, perhaps, 

 the most interesting relic of his former life. Lavater, and others 

 since his time, have believed that the character of an individual was 

 shown by his writing. It may be true to some extent ; and there is a 

 general character in the writing of different nations and of different 

 periods. The vivacity and variableness of the Frenchman, and the 

 delicacy and suppleness of the Italian, are perceptibly distinct from the 

 slowness and strength of pen discoverable in the writing of the German, 

 Dane, and Swede ; and it may be that when we are in grief we do not 

 write as we do in joy. But numerous causes must always counteract 

 or obstruct that analogy which many think the handwriting of an 

 individual bears to his character ; and none more than that close 

 imitation which the hand of an assiduous scholar is likely to bear to 

 that of his instructor. The form and fashion of Roger Ascham's 

 handwriting is clearly perceptible in the autographs of Edward VI. and 

 Queen Elizabeth. 



In later times, collections of autographs have been formed far more 

 extensive than those which the Germans made in the 16th and 17th 

 centuries. There is a very numerous assemblage of them in the British 

 Museum, where many of the most interesting are exhibited under glass 

 to the general public in the large saloon known as the King's Library ; 

 among them are not only letters and signatures, but MS. volumes, 

 such as the Iliad and Odyssey of Pope, written chiefly on the backs of 

 letters, and the original draft of Dr. Johnson's ' Irene." There are 

 also many extensive private collections of autographs in England. The 

 interest attached to autographs and the desire to possess them, has 

 much increased in modern times. The autograph of Shakspere, now 

 in the British Museum cost 1001, and that in the Library of the City 

 of London, 158/. In general the value set upon an autograph, and the 

 price it brings when sold by auction, depends on the eminence 

 of the individual and the scarcity of specimens of his handwriting. 

 To furnish individuals desirous of possessing such, but the rarity of 

 wMch precluded the chance of obtaining them, the 'Autograph 

 Miscellany ' was begun in 1855, and continued for some time. The 

 work consisted of a collection of autograph signatures, letters, and 

 documents, lithographed in folio, by F. Netherclift. 



The first English work in which a series of fac-similes of autographs 

 appeared, was Sir John Fenn's ' Original Letters from the Archives of 

 the Paston Family,' published in 1787 ; followed by ' British Auto- 



graphy," a collection of fac-similes of the handwriting of royal and 

 illustrious personages, with their authentic portraits, by John Thane, 

 3 vols. 4to, 1789 1791. Another work, more extensive and more 

 correct, will be found in ' Autographs of Royal, Noble, Learned, and 

 Remarkable Personages, conspicuous in English History, from the 

 Reign of Richard II., to that of Charles II.,' by John Gough Nichols, 

 fol. Lond. 1829 ; from the preface to which some of the preceding 

 particulars have been derived. See also Fontaine's ' Manuel de 1'Ama- 

 teur d'Autographes," Paris, 1836; the Essay'on ' Die Autographensamm- 

 lungen,' in the ' Deutschen Vierteljahrsschrift ' for 1842 ; and Paignot, 

 ' Recherches sur les Autographes.' 



AUTO'MATON, derived from two Greek words, meaning self-moved, 

 is a name generally applied to all machines which are so constructed as 

 to imitate any actions of men or animals. We may pass over the 

 pigeon of Archytas, the clock of Charlemagne, the automaton made by 

 Albertus Magnus to open his door when any one knocked, the speaking 

 head of Roger Bacon, the fly of Regiomontanus, and several others, not 

 knowing whether their performances may not have been exaggerated. 

 They serve to show, however, that the idea of applying machinery to 

 imitate life is of very ancient date, and that considerable success was 

 not deemed impossible. 



In the ' Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences ' for 1729, a description 

 is given of a set of actors representing a pantomime in five acts. But 

 previously to this, M. Camus had described an automaton group which 

 he had constructed for the amusement of Louis XIV., consisting of a 

 coach and horses, &c. The coachman smacked his whip, and the horses 

 immediately set off, moving their legs after the manner of real horses. 

 The carriage turned at the edge of the table on which it was placed, 

 and when opposite to the king it stopped, a page got down and 

 opened the door, on which a lady alighted, presented a petition 

 with a curtsey, and re-entered the carriage. The page then shut the 

 door, the carriage proceeded, and the servant, running after it, 

 jumped up behind it. (Button, 'Mathematical Recreations," vol. ii. 

 p. 95.) This is nearly inconceivable, and requires strong corroborative 

 testimony. 



The flute-player of Vaucanson is fully described in the ' Enc. Meth.,' 

 article ' Androide." It was exhibited at Paris, in 1738, where it was 

 seen by M. D'Alembert, who wrote the above article. It really played 

 on the flute, that is, projected the air with its lips against the em- 

 bouchure, producing the different octaves by expanding and contracting 

 their opening ; forcing more or less air, in the manner of living per- 

 formers, and regulating the tones by its fingers. It commanded three 

 octaves, the fullest scale of the instrument, containing several notes of 

 great difficulty to most performers. It articulated the notes with the 

 lips. Its height was nearly six feet, with a pedestal, in which some of 

 the machinery was contained. 



Two automaton flute-players were exhibited in this country some 

 years ago, as perfect as the preceding, except in the articulation. They 

 were of the size of life, and performed ten or twelve duets. That they 

 really played the flute, any bystander could prove, by placing the 

 finger on any hole which for the moment was unstopped by the 

 automaton. 



The automaton trumpeter of Maelzel, the inventor of the metronome, 

 exhibited at Vienna, is thus described in the ' Journal des Modes ' for 

 1809. From a tent M. Maelzel led out a martial figure, in the uniform 

 of a trumpeter of the Austrian dragoon regiment Albert, his trumpet 

 being at his mouth. After having pressed the figure on the left 

 shoulder, it played not only the Austrian cavalry march, and all tho 

 signals of that army, but also a march and an allegro by Weigl, which 

 was accompanied by the whole orchestra. After this, the dress of the 

 figure was completely changed into that of a French trumpeter of the 

 guard ; it then began to play the French cavalry march, all the signals, 

 and lastly, a march of Dussek, and an allegro of Pleyel, accompanied 

 again by the full orchestra. The sound of this trumpet is pure, and 

 more agreeable than that which the ablest musician could produce 

 from that instrument, because the breath of the man gives the inside 

 of the trumpet a moisture which is prejudicial to the purity of the 

 tone. Maekel publicly wound up his instrument only twice, and this 

 was on the left hip." 



In 1741, M. Vaucanson produced a flageolet-player who beat a 

 tambourine with one hand. The flageolet had only three holes, and 

 some notes were made by half-stopping these. The force of wind 

 required to produce the lowest note was one ounce; the highest, 

 fifty-six pounds (French). Its construction was altogether different 

 from that of the flute-player. 



The same year, M. Vaucanson produced a duck, which has been con- 

 sidered as the most ingenious of his performances. It dabbled in the 

 water, swam, drank, and quacked like a real duck ; and the peculiar 

 motions of the animal were very successfully imitated. It raised and 

 moved its wings, and dressed its feathers with its bill. It extended its 

 neck, took barley from the hand and swallowed it ; during which the 

 natural motion of the muscles of the neck was perfectly perceptible. 

 It digested the food it had swallowed by means of materials provided 

 for its solution in the stomach. The inventor made no secret of the 

 machinery, which excited great admiration at the time. 



Several other automata are described by Hutton ; in particular one 

 constructed by M. Droz, which drew several likenesses of public 

 characters. A machine which wrote and drew, and another which 



