100 Famous Si^iatures ,\\\\\\\ / nilMOlS HIS- lORiCAl SURVEY FORELWORD WE send this little booklet to our friends as a reminder of and an inspiration from the hundred famous men and women whose signatures it contains. For handwriting is the most intimate expression of the personality of those with whom we cannot converse. As these signatures reveal, some men have become great in spite of their bad handwriting. Nevertheless, we have ^ill to learn of one to whom an illegible hand was an asset. Everyone who reads a letter, or even a signature, swiftly judges the character of the writer from his handwriting. This judg- ment is all the more decisive because it is as a rule perfectly unconscious; and it is all the more to be considered because it is so likely to be inaccurate and unjust. Good penmanship does not primarily depend upon the form or slant of the letters. It does not even depend upon the way the pen is held, although both affedt the ease and speed of writing. Clear readable handwriting depends only upon the will and desire of the writer to be helpful to the person who is to read what he writes. In defense of Shakespeare and many others whose names are in this book, it muft be remembered that the ^eel pen was not invented until early in the nineteenth century, and that ^eel pens were not produced in any quantity in the United States until 1858. In that year Richard Esterbrook e^ab- lished in Camden, New Jersey, the company which bears his name, and which has devoted itself for 66 years to the manufacture of ^eel pens. Today, with all the aid which a fine ^eel writing instrument can provide, there is no longer an excuse for unreadable handwrit- ing. And there is an E^erbrook ^eel pen specially designed and made to fit the individual requirements of every writer. American business men nowadays pride themselves on their application of the Golden Rule in business transactions. Needed, — an application of the Golden Rule to penmanship: "Write to others as you would that others should write to you ! THE ESTERBROOK STEEL PEN M'F'G. CO. CAMDEN, . . . NEW JERSEY '"k4fM^k>''W»i./''4j'*^^^».#*ki«^M^w#"kii''Ww<''kiifWk>''^rf''S^^ki'"**>'Wk/''WW^ki'"*jif^ U. S. PRESIDENTS GEORGE WASHINGTON 1732-1799. 1st President of the U. S. JOHN ADAMS 1735-1826. 2nd President of the U. S. THOMAS JEFFERSON 1743-1826. 3rd President of the U. S. JAMES MONROE 1758-1831. 5th President of the U. S. ^l/Wi^x. cJUjk^i^\>>KjiAA *^^TOux^K^ JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 1767-1848. 6th President of the U. S. ANDREW JACKSON 1767-1845. 7th President of the U. S. MARTIN VAN BUREN 1782-1862. 8th President of the U. S. ^d^T- JOHN TYLER 1790-1862. 10th President of the U. S. ZACHARY TAYLOR 1784-1850. 12th President of the U. S. ABRAHAM LINCOLN 1809-1865. 16th President of the U. S. /Z^c-cyC7 ULYSSES S. GRANT 1822-1885. 18th President of the U. S. 4«krff«>,rhiX«,«ni''««^wu''^^«h^'^h4''wnr>ui'W%4'<^«ii#S4>'«ii^^h#'*k4''ki.ru JAMES A. GARFIELD 183M881. 20th President of the U. S. •^^i^,^^«^^ ^^2^ GROVER CLEVELAND 1837-1908. 22nd and 24lh President of the U. S. (fh^^i^ BENJAMIN HARRISON 1833-1901. 23rd President of the U. S. WILLIAM McKINLEY 1843-1901. 25th President of the U. S. THEODORE ROOSEVELT 1858-1919. 26th President of the U. S. WILLIAM H. TAFT 1857. 27th President of the U. S. WOODROW WILSON ^^ 1856. X 28th President of the U.S. 1913-1921 WARREN G. HARDING 1865-1923. 29th President of the U. S. CALVIN COOLIDGE 1872. 30th President of the U. S. POETS AND AUTHORS WILUAM SHAKESPEARE 1564-1616. English poet and playwright ^' 0^J^nyilS JOHN MILTON 1608-1674. English poet SAMUEL JOHNSON 1709-1784. English writer and lexicographer OUVER GOLDSMITH 1728-1774. English poet and novelist JAMES BOSWELL 1 740- 1 795 . English biographer ROBERT BURNS 1759-1796. Scottish poet WILUAM WORDSWORTHl 1770- 1 850. English poet SIR WALTER SCOTT 1771-1832. Scottish poet and novelist WASHINGTON IRVING 1 783- 1 859. American writer /'w^k#''»^'*y»^»^^/''*i<'S'''»<''^i<"k^'"»^''SyOk/"^.■^l^''^gH ^y\^ RALPH WALDO EMERSON 1803-1882. American poet and essayist NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE 1804-1864. American writer HENRY W. LONGFELLOW 1807-1882. American poet JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER 1807-1892. American poet ALFRED TENNYSON 1809-1892. English poet OUVER WENDELL HOLMES 1 809- 1 894. American writer EDGAR ALLEN POE 1809-1849. American poet and writer WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY 1811-1 863. English novelist HARRIET BEECHER STOWE — ^^ 181 1-1896. Author of **Uncle Tom's Cabin * CHARLES DICKENS 1812-1 870. English novelist WALT WHITMAN ^^ 1819-1892. American poet JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 1819-1891. American author and diplomatist t^^.^^-^ MARIAN G. LEWES ("George Eliot") 1819-1880. English novelist s^ //• cc—^^ SAMUEL L. CLEMENS ("Mark Twain") 1835-1910. Author and humorist JOHN BURROUGHS 1837, American poet and naturalist ROYALTY HENRY VIII 1491-1547. King of England 1509-1547 J^^Ctur^ ELIZABETH 1533-1603. Queen of England 1558-1603 U'«'*k#%riMk/^h4"kAfHi./^U"S«fW%4'«.f«h«' MARY STUART 1542-1587. "Mary Queen of Scots" ARTISTS AND MUSICIANS I i REMBRANDT I ^ 1606-1669. Dutch painter ^^v.^:^ a^^-.S-LC^ JOHN SEBASTIAN BACH 1685-1750. German musical composer SIR EDWIN LANDSEER 1802-1873. English painter ^^> C^^/ C^ ^^^ JENNY LIND 18-0-1887. Swedish singer ^^if»nrf^fcf^/^K'^k/^i/^inkPi/^jn»,ro'n'^k#''»<'^'\<''»^M«niruMirkr^rfMi,r^i VICTOR HERBERT 1859. American musician and composer EDWARD A. MacDOWELL 1861-1908 American musical composer INVENTORS JAMES WATT 1736-1819. Inventor of the steam-engine ^^^^:C~^ ROBERT FULTON 1765-1815. Inventor of the steamboat /^»l^ki''^«f^/^^'*l,^^/''0'*yf^^''^rfr«k#''^<''^>|f'«l^•'^rf'*y'^»,^%rf''*-'^k^"w'*l«rl»<'"».^^*l,*%<''^. ^^c/ SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 1791-1872. Inventor of the telegraph ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL 1847-1922. Inventor of the telephone cLcuZf. THOMAS A. EDISON 1847. Inventor of the phonograph and many electrical devices BUSINESS MEN RICHARD ESTERBROOK 1813-1896 First American maker of steel pens ANDREW CARNEGIE 1837-1919. Captain of industry and philanthropist JAMES J. HILL 1838-1916. American railway capitalist HENRY FORD 1863. Automobile manufacturer GEORGE J. GOULD 1864. American railway capitalist RELIGIOUS LEADERS JOHN WESLEY 1703-1791. Founder of the Methodist Church HENRY WARD BEECHER 1813-1887. American preacher and reformer. MARY BAKER G. EDDY 1 82 1- 1 9 1 0. Founder of Christian Science Church SOLDIERS AND SAILORS OUVER CROMWELL 1599-1658. Religious, military and political leader in England JOHN PAUL JONES 1747-1792. American Naval Officer ,'«MfU#%4'«knk4%tfrii.^H#%rfr«i.ru%.\/^uf«M#H WILUAM T. SHERMAN 1820-1891. American General PHILIP H. SHERIDi^N 1831-1888. American General STATESMEN BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 1706-1790. American statesman and scientist CX^ JOHN HANCOCK 1737-1793. American statesman PATRICK HENRY 1737-1799. American statesman ''^ki/^fci''u''»MMw#'«u»'MU<''uMk,^n JOHN MARSHALL 1755-1835. Chief Justice of Supreme Court 1801-1835 ^ ALEXANDER HAMILTON 1757-1804. American statesman DANIEL WEBSTER 1782-1852, American statesman JEFFERSON DAVIS 1808-1889. President of Confederate States WILUAM EWART GLADSTONE 1809-1898. British statesman JOHN HAY /^ 1838-1905. American statesman and author 'Wurw