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Signature of James Watt

James Watt

James Watt's autograph signature, used to authenticate his own documents.

This is Watt's own autograph signature, used to verify documents he wrote or signed.

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Black handwritten cursive signature on white background reading 'James Watt', with a looping underline stroke beneath it. — James Watt's signature.

About this source

What it is

This is the handwritten signature of James Watt, reading "James Watt" with a looping underline stroke. It is preserved as an example of his autograph.

Why it matters

A signature is one of the most direct physical traces a historical figure leaves behind. Comparing this signature to other documents can help confirm whether letters or papers were genuinely written or signed by Watt himself.

Look closer

What does the style of handwriting suggest about how the signature was written, quickly or carefully?
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What can a signature tell us, and what can it not tell us, about a person?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of James Watt on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Printed first page of Watt's Specification, patent No. 913 dated A.D. 1769, headed Steam Engines, &c., with a royal coat of arms above. The text begins 'To all to whom these presents shall come, I, James Watt, of Glasgow, in Scotland, Merchant, send greeting.'

Document

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James Watt Patent No. 913

James Watt · 1769 (reprinted 1855)

Dark metal cylindrical object standing upright on a wood-grain surface, viewed from above. It has a short pipe projecting from its left side, and a hand-painted marking reading roughly '1744-786' runs down its front.

Artifact

Primary source

Watt's First Condenser

James Watt · c. 1765

A dark metal and wood model steam engine in a glass case on a white pedestal. It has a tall cylinder with a funnel-shaped top, a rocking beam across the top frame, and a cylinder with a piston and a wooden base frame.

Artifact

Primary source

Model Newcomen Engine Repaired by James Watt

Unknown maker (repaired by James Watt) · c. 1760

Interior of a cluttered 18th-century style workshop with a wooden workbench, a large iron lathe-like machine, shelves of white ceramic jars and stoneware, plaster busts and casts, and hanging chains and a beam overhead. A window is at the left.

Artifact

Primary source

James Watt's Workshop

Interior of a museum showing the Smethwick Engine: a large dark cylinder with a steam pipe and valve rises beside a steel walkway. Above, wooden beams and a large iron beam structure stand. In the background, a red-spoked flywheel engine sits on a green base.

Artifact

Primary source

Smethwick Engine

James Watt · 1779

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