A manuscript copied out by the author of the text. Before the 15th century, authors generally dictated their texts to a scribe, but during the later middle ages and the early modern period autograph manuscripts became more common. Famous autograph manuscripts include that of Petrarch (Vat. Lat. 3196), which has been published in a facsimile (Il Codice vaticano lat. 3196: autografo del Petrarco (1941)). Book collectors distinguish between holograph (a manuscript entirely handwritten by the author) and autograph (which can include holographs, but usually means items merely signed by the author).