Handwriting Analysis

History of Handwriting


The history of handwriting dates back over 2000 years. The Greek philosopher Aristotle (shown left) noticed similarities between Chinese handwriting and their personalities. However the first book on handwriting analysis was published in 1622 by Camillo Baldi, a professor at the University of Bologna, which he titled A Method to Recognize the Nature and Quality of a Writer from His Letters.

A couple of centuries later in the 1890's in Germany a man by the name of Dr. Ludwig Klages (below, left) took gestalt theory (higher order cognative processes) and applied it to handwriting analysis. A Swiss professor named Max Pulver used psychoanalysis (the comprehensive theory of human nature, motivation, behavior, development and experience) in hand with handwriting analysis. These two individuals broadened the study of handwriting analysis.



Handwriting Characteristics

There are twelve different characteristics that one could you to differentiate different forms of handwriting:

1. Line Quality
2. Spacing of Words
3. Spacing of Letters
4. Pen Lifts
5. Word Separations
6. Connecting Strokes
7. Unusual Letter Formation
8. Slant
9. Baseline Habits
10. Flourishes
11. Embellishment
12. Didactic Placement

Analysis of Handwriting Templates

There are two ways one may forge handwriting: free-handing forgery and trace forgery. Free handing forgery is when an individual copies another's handwriting without the aid of tracing, stencils or other means of copying handwriting. Trace forgery is when an individual tries to copy another's handwriting by using trace paper, a stencil or other means outside just their hand to successfully replicate another's handwriting.

In a lab we attempted both free-hand and traced forgery.

1st: Each student received a scratch sheet so they are given the opportunity to copy another sutdent's handwriting.

2nd: Each student was asked to write the sentence "The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog." Writing this sentence is good practice for copying another person's handwriting because it contains every letter in the alphabet. Each student free-hand forged and trace forged the sentence of another student, then provided analysis on the characteristics of the handwriting.  

3rd: Next, each student received three fake blank checks. The student was suppose to create a fake name, with a signature to go along with it. We then tore up the checks and passed them along to another table. Using the first handwriting analysis sheet as a guide, we pieced the checks back together.

Famous Case

In 1928 a family Bible that was inscribed with the birth-dates of the children of the family. The mother of the children said that she wrote the dates shortly after their births, which were 1887 and 1889. However, analysis of the handwriting showed that the Bible was copyrighted in 1890, making her claims invalid.