album, in ancient Rome, a whitened board on which public notices were inscribed in black. The annals compiled by the pontifex maximus (chief priest), the annual edicts of the praetor, the lists of senators and jurors, the Acta diurna (an account of daily events), and other notices were placed on albums. From this practice is derived the present English word album, meaning a book of blank pages in which autographs, sketches, photographs, or the like are collected.