The term is usually applied to a manuscript, letter, or document in the hand of, and preferably signed by, a person of some note.
Autographs also occur on books, baseballs, and other items.
This exhibit is designed to show the signatures of persons famous and infamous, noteworthy and nearly-noteworthy, in the collection of the Cushing Memorial Library. In a sense, an autograph exhibit is an exercise in name-dropping, the practice of attempting to elevate one's own status by demonstrating an association with celebrated persons. This desire to improve ourselves by association accounts, at least in part, for our fascination with autographs. The answer is that by examining these bits of paper we are attempting to appropriate to our own lives a bit of someone else's celebrity, someone perceived as being more substantial, accomplished, worthwhile, or at least well- known, than ourselves. One wonders what will become of autographs in the future.