Book excerpt: John Castagno's Artists' Signatures and Monograms have become the standard reference source for galleries, museums, libraries, and collectors around the world. Whether used to identify, authenticate, or verify signatures and works of both well-known and little-known artists, Castagno's work has no equal. In the first volume of Artists Monograms and Indiscernible Signatures, An International Directory, 1800-1991 (Scarecrow, 1991), Castagno provided identification for more than 3,700 artists' signatures, along with biographical information and reference sources. The second volume featured some 2,100 artists and 3,000 signature examples. This third volume contains more than 1,250 signatures of some 1,225 artists. In addition to the standard signature entries, the book features sections for monograms and initials, common surname signatures, alternative surname signatures, symbols, and Cyrillic Signatures. Less than five percent of the entries in this volume are listed in the first two volumes--and these are included to provide additional information about the artists. The use of Artists' Monograms and Indiscernible Signatures III: An International Directory provides the researcher a reference tool not duplicated elsewhere--one that will save many hours of research.