Sentence:  Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language ... his clerks ... understood him very well. If he had written a love letter, or a farce, or a "ballade", or a story, no one, either clerks, or friends, or compositors, would have understood anything but a word here and a word there. For his <WSD>signature</WSD>, however, that was different. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  (Name) A person's name, written by that person, used as identification or to signify approval of accompanying material, such as a legal contract.