Handwriting Analysis

History of Handwriting Analysis


The history of handwriting analysis, or graphology, dates back to over 2,000 years ago to when Aristotle noticed the correlation between handwriting and personality.

1622- an Italian professor published a book that said “It is obvious that all persons write in their own peculiar way…” providing the basis for modern day handwriting analysis. 

1882- a women named Mary Booth became very interested in the study of handwriting and started publishing books on the subject.

Since the early 1900’s handwriting analysis has helped solve crime as well as study one’s character. Handwriting analysis can be used to compare a suspect’s handwriting to notes that could link the suspect to the crime determine if handwritten documents are authentic.


12 Handwriting Characteristics

There are many handwriting characteristics that handwriting experts will look at when attempting to match up two different samples.





1 Line quality: Are the marks smooth and flowing, or are they shaky and wavering?

2 Spacing of words and letters: Is the spacing consistent between each letter and word, or does it vary?

3 Ratio of relative height, width, and size of letters: Is the ratio of the letters consistent, what is the ratio?

4 Pen lifts and separations: Does the person stop to form new letters and begin words, are there dark spots where the pen may have rested?

5 Connecting strokes: Are the capitals connected to the lowercase letters, are there connecting strokes between lowercase letters and words?

6 Beginning and ending strokes: How are the beginning and ending strokes curved, upwards, downward, long short, etc.?

7 Unusual letter formation: Are any letters formed differently, such as backward letters or unusual capitals?

8 Shading or pen pressure: Is the pressure on the upward or downward strokes?

9 Slant: Which direction is the writing slanted, right, left vertical?

10 Baseline habits: Is the writing above or below the line, do certain letters drop lower than the rest?

11 Flourishes and embellishments: Are there any flourishes or embellishments, what are they?

12 Diacritic placement: How are the t’s crossed, how are the j’s and i’s dotted, are they to the right or to left of the letter? 

Handwriting Analysis Template

On he handwriting analysis template, we had to write a sentence and then exchange papers with someone. Then we each had to attempt to forge each others handwriting using the freehand method and tracing method. The freehand forgery had a smoother line quality, smaller letter size, dark marks where I paused, more connecting strokes, and lighter pen pressure than the authentic sample. In the tracing forgery, many characteristics were consistent between my forged sample and the original one. However, my pen pressure was still lighter, and dark marks formed where I paused. I think the tracing method is better than the freehand method.

Check Forgery Lab    

For the check forgery lab each person created a fake check and ripped it up. Then each group traded checks and we had to find out who forged the checks by using the prior activity for real samples to match up. Once I reconstructed the check, it was easy to identify the individual using the 12 handwriting characteristics. The most distinguishing characteristics were unusual letter formation, slant, and diacritic placement.

Famous Case       

Charles Lindbergh's 20-month-old son was kidnapped on March 1, 1932. Although he paid a ransom of $50,000, his son was never returned. In May his son's body was found just a few miles from home. From tracking the circulation of the bills used in the ransom payment, authorities were led to Bruno Hauptmann. Authorities found over $14,000 of the ransom money in his garage. Even though Hauptmann claimed the money belonged to a friend, handwriting analysts were able to match his writing to the ransom notes. Hauptmann was convicted and executed in 1936.