Note 9 — Chapter XVI

The kings of Spain seldom use any other royal signature, except the ancient Gothic rubrica, or mark. This monogram is something like a Runic knot. Spaniards exercise much ingenuity in these intricate flourishes, which they tack on to their names, as a collateral security of authenticity. It is said that a rubrica without a name is of more value than a name without a rubrica. Sancho Panza tells Don Quixote that his rubrica alone is worth, not one, but three hundred jackasses. Those who cannot write rubricate; “No saber firmar,”—not to know how to sign one’s name,—is jokingly held in Spain to be one of the attributes of grandeeship.