Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

First-hand \First"-hand`\, a.
   Obtained directly from the first or original source; hence,
   without the intervention of an agent.

         One sphere there is . . . where the apprehension of him
         is first-hand and direct; and that is the sphere of our
         own mind.                                --J.
                                                  Martineau.