Autographs have been around since man learned to make his mark, be it an X because he couldn't read or write or his complete signature.  We "autograph" things on a daily basis.  We sign checks, mortgage papers, the loan for the new car we really can't afford, our kid's report cards.  Did you ever have one of those stuffed "weenie" dogs that you had your friends sign; remember taking your year book from class to class for days to get everyone to "autograph" it?  We have autographed things for years.  The guest register at the old western hotels, guest books at funerals, bridal showers, even guest books on websites we  visit.  Our autograph means something.  It means that 8 x 10 of your favorite athlete with his autograph is worth more than without it. It's our name, who we are, whether we are famous or just Joe Blow, it's something to be proud of.  It's our promise to be responsible for that new car loan, it's a sign to our friends that we were there for them, a record of where we have been. It's like a thumbprint; individual and unique, it's our personality.

We've all seen autograph books, maybe even had one when we were kids, wagging it around everywhere we went to get friends, family and perfect strangers to sign it.  The development of the autograph book dates back to the middle ages.  Aristocratic families circulated genealogical tables and guides between one another with each adding his or her own personal information.

The first autograph books appeared in German and Dutch regions by the mid-16th century known as the "book of friends" or "friendship book".  Very popular with college students from the 15th century until the mid-19th century, after which they were replaced with college yearbooks or alcaldes as we called them.  Before the autograph book, students would have classmates and instructors sign their bibles.
Besides the signature, the writer might include a small verse, poem, drawings or personal messages.  I had a German autograph book that also had antique Victorian die cuts on each page. Most wonderful of all is they dated their inscription.

Academics tended to keep their autograph books for years and gather the correspondence of fellow intellectuals with whom they associated, so that not only were the books sentimental artifacts, but also a crude form of scholarly credentials, a modern " list of references" if you will.  They may have been used as an address book.  There is great historical value in these books as we look at the biographical data of those who composed them and they culture in which they wrote.

German immigrants brought the tradition to America in the late 19th century. By the mid 19th century, they began to decline sharply though a considerable number of young women continued to exchange them.  Still today, in Germany, they are still a lingering fad among elementary school aged girls.  The books themselves could have been plain cardboard or gold-tooled leather.  The autograph books of the 1800's were far more beautiful than the plain ones you find today.  Oh, and you can still buy the "weenie dogs" to autograph.