`data/oldest-signatures.csv`

21 lines
era_sort,name,approx_date,category_type,what_was_signed,significance,signature_image_available,signature_image_url,met_object_id,met_title,met_date,met_culture,met_object_url,source_url,notes
-3100,GAR.AMA (Uruk scribe),c. 3100 BCE,clay colophon,"Proto-cuneiform lexical clay tablet listing 41 titles/professions (Schøyen MS 2429/4), Sumer",Cited by the Schøyen Collection as the earliest extant autograph signature — a named scribe signing a lexical list.,no,,329081,"Proto-Cuneiform tablet with seal impressions: administrative account of barley distribution with cylinder seal impression of a male figure, hunting dogs, and boars",ca. 3100–2900 BCE,Sumerian,https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/329081,https://www.schoyencollection.com/scribes-collection/scribal-training/lexical-list-oldest-autograph-ms-2494-4,"Scribal colophon impressed in wet clay, not cursive handwriting."
-3100,Kushim (Uruk accountant),c. 3200–3000 BCE,clay colophon,"18 proto-cuneiform barley-account tablets bearing the name 'Kushim', Uruk (mostly Louvre)",Widely cited as the oldest recorded personal name in history — an accountant's mark on institutional barley receipts.,no,,329081,"Proto-Cuneiform tablet with seal impressions: administrative account of barley distribution with cylinder seal impression of a male figure, hunting dogs, and boars",ca. 3100–2900 BCE,Sumerian,https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/329081,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kushim_(Uruk_period),"CONTESTED: 'Kushim' may be a title/office, not a person (Harari popularized it; Assyriologists are split). Impressed clay, not a handwritten autograph."
-2560,Inspector Merer,c. 2560 BCE,papyrus log,"The Diary of Merer (Wadi el-Jarf Papyrus) — first-person logbook of Great Pyramid logistics, 26th year of Khufu","World's oldest surviving inscribed papyrus, written by a named first-person official.",no,,551898,Composite Papyrus Capital,380–343 B.C.,Egyptian Art,https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/551898,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diary_of_Merer,"A first-person record, not a discrete signature."
-2270,Enheduanna,c. 2285–2250 BCE,clay colophon,Cuneiform colophons on the 'Exaltation of Inanna' hymns; named on the alabaster Disc of Enheduanna (Penn Museum B16665),Earliest known named author in literary history; signed her own literary colophons.,yes,https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Disk_of_Enheduanna.JPG,329090,Cylinder seal and modern impression: hunting scene,ca. 2250–2150 BCE,Akkadian,https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/329090,https://www.worldhistory.org/Enheduanna/,"The disc is sculpted, not handwritten; surviving tablet copies postdate her by centuries (attribution debated)."
-33,Cleopatra VII,33 BCE,cursive (contested),"Papyrus Bingen 45 — royal tax-exemption decree for P. Canidius; bottom word 'ginesthoi' (γινέσθωι, 'so be it')",Argued by some scholars to be the only surviving handwritten word by Cleopatra.,yes,https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Papyrus_document_containing_signature_of_Cleopatra_VII_of_Egypt.jpg,259138,Plaster cast of a metal emblema of Isis-Tyche,2nd half of the 3rd century – 2nd century B.C,Egyptian,https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/259138,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papyrus_Bingen_45,HOTLY DISPUTED (van Minnen/Zimmermann vs. Sarri/Bagnall) — may be a scribe's hand throughout.
790,Charlemagne,c. 769–814 CE,seal monogram,Carolingian royal diplomas bearing the cruciform 'signum manus' monogram spelling KAROLVS (~180 originals),Authenticated royal mark of the most important medieval Western ruler.,yes,https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Charlemagne_autograph.svg,464278,Triptych,1250–1260,North French,https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/464278,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signum_manus,Monogram device drawn by scribes; Charlemagne may have added only the central stroke. Not cursive.
1051,Pope Leo IX,c. 1049–1054 CE,seal device (rota),Papal bulls bearing the first 'rota' — a wheel-and-cross authentication device with the pope's name,"First pope to adopt the rota, the standard papal authentication for centuries.",no,,436282,The Crucifixion; The Last Judgment,ca. 1436–38,European Paintings,https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436282,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rota_(papal_signature),"Chancery-drawn symbol, not cursive handwriting."
1098,El Cid (Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar),1098 CE,true cursive autograph,Charter endowing the Cathedral of Valencia; 'ego Ruderico … afirmo' (Cathedral of Salamanca archive),Widely called the oldest surviving handwritten cursive autograph of a famous named individual.,yes,https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Signature_of_El_Cid.svg,466191,"Leaf from a Beatus Manuscript: at the Clarion of the Fifth Angel's Trumpet, a Star Falls from the Sky; the Bottomless Pit is Opened with a Key; Emerging from the Smoke, Locusts Come Upon the Earth and Torment the Deathless",ca. 1180,Spanish,https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/466191,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Cid,A genuine cursive Latin subscription — the first 'true autograph' tier in this list.
1492,Isabella I of Castile,c. 1474–1504 CE,true cursive autograph,"Royal decrees incl. the 1492 Capitulations of Santa Fe (Columbus), signed 'Yo la Reina'",Her 'Yo la Reina' authorized the European encounter with the Americas.,yes,https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Isabella_I_of_Castile_Signature.svg,207259,Pendant with the Virgin and Child,probably first half 17th century,European Sculpture and Decorative Arts,https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/207259,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_I_of_Castile,Genuine cursive autograph.
1499,Michelangelo Buonarroti,1499 CE,carved + cursive,The Pietà sash (St. Peter's): 'MICHAEL.ANGELUS.BONAROTUS.FLORENT.FACIEBAT'; 342 autograph letters (Casa Buonarroti),The Pietà is the only artwork he ever signed.,yes,https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Michelangelo_Signature2.svg,435844,The Musicians,1597,European Paintings,https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/435844,https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Signatures_of_Michelangelo_Buonarroti,Pietà signature is carved marble; handwritten letter signatures also survive.
1500,Leonardo da Vinci,c. 1487–1519 CE,true cursive autograph,Manuscripts incl. Forster Codex and Codice Atlantico ('io Lionardo'),"Rare autographs from the defining Renaissance polymath, who seldom signed paintings.",yes,https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leonardo_Da_Vinci_signature_from_Forster_codex.svg,337494,"Compositional Sketches for the Virgin Adoring the Christ Child, with and without the Infant St. John the Baptist; Diagram of a Perspectival Projection (recto); Slight Doodles (verso)",1480–85,Drawings and Prints,https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/337494,https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Signatures_of_Leonardo_da_Vinci,Wrote in mirror-script; 19+ signature files on Commons.
1500,Albrecht Dürer,c. 1494–1528 CE,monogram mark,"Paintings/engravings/woodcuts bearing the nested 'AD' monogram (e.g., 1500 Self-Portrait)",First artist's trademark defended in court — the pioneer of artistic copyright.,yes,https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Albrecht_D%C3%BCrer_Monogramm.svg,436243,Salvator Mundi,ca. 1505,European Paintings,https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436243,https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Monogram_of_Albrecht_D%C3%BCrer,A device/brand mark plus a cursive hand in letters.
1502,Christopher Columbus,c. 1493–1506 CE,true cursive autograph (sigla),"Letters incl. to the Office of St. George (Seville, 1502); cryptic pyramidal sigla S·A·S / X·M·Y / Xpo FERENS",One of history's most mysterious signatures — a cipher he ordered his heirs to keep using.,yes,https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Columbus_Signature.svg,466311,Column Statue of a King,ca. 1150–60,French,https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/466311,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus,Upper tiers of the cipher remain unresolved.
1513,Henry VIII of England,c. 1509–1547 CE,true cursive autograph,Royal letters/decrees signed 'Henry R' (earliest confirmed 1513),Among the most collected and most forged royal autographs in history.,yes,https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HenryVIIISig.svg,23939,"Armor Garniture of George Clifford (1558–1605), 
Third Earl of Cumberland",1586,"British, Greenwich",https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/23939,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_of_Henry_VIII,A dry-stamp device was used in his final illness; beware fakes.
1517,Martin Luther,c. 1517–1546 CE,true cursive autograph,Hundreds of letters incl. the 95 Theses cover letter to Archbishop Albert of Mainz (1517),Autograph letters among the most consequential documents of the Reformation.,yes,https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Martin_Luther_Signature.svg,436037,The Judgment of Paris,ca. 1528,European Paintings,https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436037,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther,Signed 'Martinus LütheR D' with a raised-R flourish.
1558,Queen Elizabeth I,c. 1544–1603 CE,true cursive autograph,State documents/letters signed 'Elizabeth R' with an elaborate italic flourish,One of the most recognizable autographs in English history.,yes,https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Autograph_of_Elizabeth_I_of_England.svg,22139,Armor of Sir James Scudamore (1558–1619),"ca. 1595–96; restored and completed, 1915","British, Greenwich",https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/22139,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_I_of_England,Distinctive humanist italic hand that evolved over her reign.
1610,Galileo Galilei,c. 1595–1642 CE,true cursive autograph,"Very rare signed documents/letters (e.g., a 1595 Padua document)",'Of the utmost rarity' — only a few authenticated specimens in private hands.,yes,https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Galileo_Galilei_Signature_2.svg,377877,"Galileo and personifications of Astronomy, Perspective and Mathematics, frontispiece for 'Opere di Galileo Galilei'",1656,Drawings and Prints,https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/377877,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei,Two signature SVGs confirmed on Commons.
1613,William Shakespeare,1612–1616 CE,true cursive autograph,Six signatures on four legal documents (Bellott v. Mountjoy deposition; Blackfriars deeds; the three-page will),Only six authenticated signatures survive — none on any literary manuscript.,yes,https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Shakespeare_Signature.svg,194067,Watch in the form of a Lesser George,ca. 1600,European Sculpture and Decorative Arts,https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/194067,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare%27s_handwriting,Secretary-hand; he spelled his own name differently across the six.