The Detection of Forgery Part 8

"The writing proper to childhood is large, round and accompanied by a laboured pen movement; whereas that which is normal as manhood or womanhood is attained is smaller, and turned off by a more rapid and fluent motion of the hand.

"Illness, again, affects the writing. As the hand is charged with more or less of the nerve fluid, so the writing is stronger or weaker, firmer or feebler, as the case may be.

"This goes to show the important influence which the nerve current exerts in fashioning the handwriting. Small wonder that our handwriting alters day by day. Yet it does not alter either. So far as its general appearance is concerned I grant it _seems_ to do so. But look at the really significant points of the writing written at different times.

Give a glance at the height at which the '_i_' is dotted, the way in which the '_t_' is barred, the manner in which the letters are, or are not, connected and finished off. These things will crop up with unerring uniformity time after time.

"You do, of course, get a studied handwriting now and then, just as you sometimes meet with a formed facial expression. But that does not express the true character, simply because the control over the feelings or the power of disguising what is felt is a salient point in the character; and this very fact will serve to show that there is truth in graphology.

"That the pen, whether it be a fine or a broad pointed nib, plays a certain part in determining the thickness or thinness of the strokes, I am willing to allow, but here again we have no argument against graphology, for most people have their favourite nib--just as they prefer one occupation to another--and this is the one which will best serve to define their characteristics. The same with the surface of the paper upon which they write; some will select a smooth, others a rough kind, but whatever that may be which is adopted with comfort, it will be typical of the writer."

The following are some of the more marked signs of the character they indicate. For a fuller exposition of their application it would be well to study the work of Foli, before mentioned, and of Rosa Baughan (Upcott Gill, London, 2_s._ 6_d._), with the scholarly work of J.

Crepieux-Jainin, ent.i.tled, "Handwriting and Expression," translated by J. Holt Schooling.

_General Characteristic._--The fineness of an organism will be revealed by a fine light penstroke. Coa.r.s.e, low natures make heavy blurred entangled lines.

_Activity_ is denoted by the length of the letters. Where it is feeble the letters will be widely s.p.a.ced and rounded.

_Excitability_ is shown by sharp strokes and stops. The more acute and irregular the pen-strokes the greater the intensity of feeling.

_Aggression_, which is the inclination to attack, the destructive force, is indicated by the final strokes of letters and the cross-bars of _t_'s advancing well forward, the dots of the _i_'s placed well forward. In such a word as "time" the dot would probably be between the _m_ and _e_.

The style is angular and well and evenly s.p.a.ced, altogether a forward, "go-ahead" writing.

_Economy_, or acquisitiveness, is shown by the finishing strokes being turned backwards, and inwards; by a cramped hand, a disposition to curtail strokes, particularly the endings of letters, as if the expenditure of ink was begrudged.

_Secretiveness_, or extra caution, has its sign in the narrow, tightly-closed form of the body of the letters _a_, _d_, _g_, _o_, _q_, the _a_ and _o_ often being merely a narrow _v_. The general tendency of the writing is to compression, the final strokes being very short. When very marked, the letters dwindle into an indistinct unformed condition.

The subst.i.tution of dashes for punctuation is another symptom.

_Insincerity._--Beware of the man or woman whose writing is a fine, wavy line, upright, with short, stumpy and indistinct tops and tails, words running at their end to an almost straight line, the letters merely indicated. The flatter, finer and more perpendicular this writing, the greater the insincerity. Such a writer would probably be a polite, pleasing and plausible person, but double-faced as Ja.n.u.s.

_Love of praise_, glory, ambition are shown by a tendency to write upwards, the lines of writing trending towards the right-hand corner of the paper. The signature will usually have a curved line below it, with a degree of flourish.

_Self-esteem_, to which is allied conceit and ostentation, shows itself in proportion to the size of the writing, the taller and more flourished the upstrokes and the longer the downstrokes, the greater the self-a.s.sertiveness. The flourish beneath the signature will be very p.r.o.nounced, often an elaborate spider's web of interlaced lines. The writing is more or less angular with the finals turned backwards and inwards.

_Will power_ is shown by firm bars to the _t_, with a tendency to descend from left to right, bludgeon-like downstrokes to tailed letters, writing rather angular than rounded, and the final strokes finished by a heavy pressure. Straight, firm, downward strokes take the place of the tails to _y_, _g_, _f_, _q_.

_Sympathy_, good nature, kindness of heart are shown by a flowing open hand, the finals of the letters being extended and thrown out with an expansive movement. The tailed letters are long and looped, and often turned up the right side of the letter. The letters are well apart but not necessarily unconnected, and the style is curved. As a general rule hard matter-of-fact natures incline to an angular style; the artistic and softer nature affects rounded, gracefully curved strokes, and avoids straight perpendiculars or horizontals.

_Constructiveness_, which implies the ability to combine and connect words and phrases, is shown by joining the words together, several being written without lifting the pen from the paper. The more simple and ingenuous the method of attaching the words, the greater will be the ability. When this joining of words is carried to extremes, it may be taken as a sign of good deductive judgment.

_Observation_, by which is implied the keen, penetrating, inquiring mind (which in excess becomes curiosity), is marked by angularity of the strokes and finals; a small, generally neat, handwriting, with the letters disconnected.

_Punctuation_ affords a very valuable clue to character-reading, for reasons set out in the chapter "How to Study a Handwriting." They are the most mechanical and unpremeditated of hand-gestures, and are, therefore, the more valuable.

When, for example, a dot is thick and heavy, we infer that the pen has been driven across the paper with a strong, decided movement of the hand, which would be consistent with extreme energy and will power; whereas, when the dot is light and faintly indicated we may be certain that only a moderate force has been expended upon its production, which would be compatible with less resistance and endurance in the character.

Again, a dot whose outlines were blurred would show a certain sensuousness of character--strong pa.s.sions and a want of restraint over the lower propensities; whereas, a dot whose edges were sharply defined would tell of refinement and a loathing against all that was coa.r.s.e or vulgar.

Careful attention to punctuation indicates neatness, order, method and love of arrangement; nor is it necessary that the punctuation should be strictly correct, for the art is but imperfectly mastered by most people, even the best educated.

Stops that partake of the appearance of a comma indicate a degree of impetuosity; well rounded stops imply calmness and tranquility of temperament. When the full stops are fashioned after the form of a comma and droop towards the right hand they indicate a tendency to sulkiness.

When they are merely angular we may infer impatience and a "peppery"

disposition.

Flourishes are always indicative of a certain amount of a.s.sertiveness.

The simpler the flourish the less artificial this self-insistence; the more elaborate, the greater the desire to seem what one is not.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF HANDWRITING.

Most of the works in this list relate to that aspect of the study of graphology which is supposed to bear upon the manifestations of character. But there is not one which the student of handwriting can afford to ignore, since, apart from the debatable question of character reading, they all contain numerous hints and observations of extreme value to the student whose objective is the acquisition of apt.i.tude in the more practical art of detecting forgery.

AUTOGRAPH COLLECTING: A practical manual for Amateurs and Historical Students. By HENRY T. SCOTT, M.D. London: Upcott Gill.

Price 5_s._

A GUIDE TO THE COLLECTION OF HISTORICAL DOc.u.mENTS, LITERARY MSS. AND AUTOGRAPH LETTERS, &c. By Rev. H. T. SCOTT and SAMUEL DAVEY. (Out of print.) May be seen in British Museum and many public libraries.

THE AUTOGRAPHIC MIRROR: A monthly journal now defunct, but procurable at second hand.

HANDWRITING AND EXPRESSION. Translated and edited by JOHN HOLT SCHOOLING, from the third French edition of "L'Escriture et le Caractere," par J. CRePIEUX-JAININ. Kegan, Paul and Trench.

CHARACTER INDICATED BY HANDWRITING. By ROSA BAUGHAN. Upcott Gill.

Price 2_s._ 6_d._

THE PHILOSOPHY OF HANDWRITING. By DON FELIX DE SALAMANCA. Macmillan.

HOW TO READ CHARACTER IN HANDWRITING. By HENRY FRITH. Ward Lock.

Price 1_s._

HANDWRITING AS AN INDEX TO CHARACTER. By Professor FOLI. C. A.

Pearson. Price 1_s._

A SYSTEM OF GRAPHOLOGY. By the ABBe MICHON. In French; no English translation. A valuable work.

A HISTORY OF HANDWRITING. Same Author.

A METHOD OF GRAPHOLOGIC STUDY. Same Author.

A MEMOIR UPON THE FAULTY METHODS USED BY EXPERTS IN HANDWRITING.

Same Author.

A DICTIONARY OF THE NOTABILITIES OF FRANCE JUDGED FROM THE HANDWRITING. Same Author.

THE HANDWRITING OF THE FRENCH PEOPLE SINCE THE MEROVINGIAN EPOCH.

Same Author.