Chapter 42

CHARACTER AND TEMPERAMENT INDICATED BY HANDWRITING

A Man's Handwriting a Part of Himself--Cheap Postage and Typewriters Playing Havoc with Writing by Hand--Old Time Correspondence Vanishing--Two Divisions of Handwriting--Fashion Has Changed Even Writing--Characteristic Writing of Different Professions--Handwriting a Sure Index to Character and Temperament--Personality of Handwriting--Handwriting a Voiceless Speaking--A Neglected Science--Interest in Disputed Handwriting Rapidly Coming to the Front--Set Writing Copies no Longer the Rule--Formal Handwriting--Education's Effect on Writing--Handwriting and Personality--The Character and Temperament of Writers Easily Told--Honest, Eccentric, and Weak People--How to Determine Character by Writing--The Marks of Truth and Straightforwardness--How Perseverance and Patience Are Indicated in Writing--Economy, Generosity and Liberality Easily Shown in Writing--The Character and Temperament of Any Writer Easily Shown--Studying Character from Handwriting a Fascinating Work--Rules for Its Study--Links in a Chain That Cannot Be Hidden--A Person's Writing a Surer Index to Character Than His Face.

A person's handwriting is really a part of himself. It is an expression of his personality and his character and is as characteristic of his general make-up as his gait or his tone of voice.

There is always a direct and apparent connection between the style of handwriting and the personality of the writer. Another familiar evidence of this is the fact that no two persons write exactly alike, notwithstanding that hundreds of thousands of people learned to write from the same copy-books and were taught to form their letters in precisely the same way. Thus, it will be seen, if handwriting bore no relationship to personality and temperament and was not influenced by the character of the individual, we would all be writing the beautiful Spencerian copper-plate we were taught in our school days. But, as it is, not one in fifty thousand writes in this manner five years after leaving school.

Like speech or gesture, handwriting serves as a means for the expression of thought; and in expressing our thoughts we give expression to ourselves. When once the art of writing is learned we are no longer conscious of the mental and manual effort required to form the letters. It becomes, as it were, a second nature to us. We do it mechanically, just as we form our words when talking, without realizing the complex processes of mind and muscle that it involves.

Of course, the style of handwriting does not in every case remain the same throughout the entire life of a man or woman. A man of fifty may not write the same hand that he did when he was eighteen or twenty, and if he lives to be eighty or ninety it will in all probability show further indications of change. This fact only emphasizes the relationship between handwriting, character, and personality; for it will always be found that where there is a change in the style of penmanship there is a corresponding change in the person himself. Very few of us retain the same character, disposition, and nature that we had in youth. Experience and vicissitudes do much to modify our natures, and with such modifications come alterations in our handwriting. In some persons the change is very slight, while in others it is noticeably evident.

When a man attempts to change his style of handwriting he simply alters the principal features of it. If his writing normally slopes to the right, he will probably adopt a back-hand. He may also use a different kind of pen; may change the size of the writing, alter the customary formation of certain letters, and add certain unfamiliar flourishes. But knowing nothing about the many minor characteristics of his natural writing he unconsciously repeats them, notwithstanding his best efforts to veil the identity of his chirography. In this respect he resembles the actor, who, while he may assume all the outward characteristics of another individual, still retains certain personal peculiarities of which he is himself unaware and which render it impossible for him to completely disguise his own individuality.

The introduction of cheap postage and the immense increase of every-day correspondence has ruined handwriting and banished forever the art of composition. The short, modern, business-like letters of to-day will not bear comparison with the neat, voluminous letters full of graphic scenic descriptions, which our forefathers were wont to compile, and were worth keeping and rereading. Now, when similar correspondence is undertaken, it is dictated to a stenographer, copied on a typewriter, or printed, for few people will take the trouble to read manuscript composition of any kind. Looking backward, we find a marked paucity of ideas and carelessness of writing in correspondence, getting worse the farther back we go. Few letters are preserved these days, except those on business, which is a pity, for a letter is always a unique production, being a correct reflect of a writer and his times.

There are always two divisions of handwriting, the formal hand employed for clerk's work, and a freer, less mechanical, less careful style, used for private correspondence. Writing was a profession only understood by a few, and as late as the sixteenth century, when it was necessary to communicate with persons at a distance, a professional scribe was employed to write the letter. But letter-writing was rare and did not become general till after the close of the sixteenth century, and even then it was restricted to the upper classes of society.

Fashion changes in everything. Every generation had its own particular type of writing. Compare, for instance, any bundle of letters taken at random, out of an old desk or library. It is quite easy to sort them into bundles in sequence of dates, and also guess accurately the age and position of the writers. The flowing Italian hand, used by educated women early in the nineteenth century, has now developed into a bold, decisive, almost masculine writing.

It will be found that most professions have special characteristics in writing and these are all liable to change, according to circumstances and writing is the clearest proof of both bodily and mental condition, for in case of paralysis, or mental aberration, the doctor takes it as a certain guide.

The most noticeable movement by which cultured people recognize one another are the play of the features, the gait, talking and writing. Of these evidences the last named is the most infallible, for by a few hasty lines we may recognize again a person whom we neither see nor hear, and enjoy in addition the advantage of being able to compare quietly and at our leisure the traits of one individual thus expressed with the characteristics of another. There are not many men to be found in any walk of life who do not endeavor to conceal to some extent, however slight, their true views and emotions, when brought into close contact with their fellow-beings. But the mind photographs itself unsuspectingly in the movements of the hands, by the use of pen and ink away from all alien observation, and with the rigid unchangeable witness in our possession the character of the author of the manuscript lies open to the gaze of the intelligent reader.

In this way handwriting becomes much more individual than any other active sign of personality. It varies more, it is more free, it represents the individual less artificially than voice or gesture. There must exist between the form and arrangements of letters in words and lines, on the one hand, and certain individual peculiarities of the writer, on the other, some kind of connection. It is strange that no scientific writing has ever yet been undertaken, for it seems conclusive that handwriting is a kind of voiceless speaking, consequently a phenomenon, and therefore an operation which lies within the province of physiology.

Yet there are no books or studies on the subject of disputed handwriting up to the present time, short newspaper and magazine articles and sketches being the only contributions the public has been favored with up to the publication of this work.

There is as yet no physiology of handwriting formulated, and that the further question of the relation of handwriting to the moods of the writer has not ever been touched upon scientifically. The history of science teaches us that in case a fact, which is theoretically and practically important, has been neglected for decades and even centuries by trained scientists; but the subject will now be taken up and a place made for it among the prominent and leading studies of the day. Interest in disputed handwriting and writing of all kinds is rapidly coming to the front in the United States, and is a study and research that the business man of the future will be perfectly familiar with.

It is now no longer the rule to teach to write entirely by the aid of set copies, as was the case with our forefathers, who wrote after one approved pattern, which was copied as nearly as possible from the original set for them; therefore characteristics, peculiarities are longer in asserting themselves and what is now considered a "formal" handwriting was not developed till late in life. There were, and still are, two divisions or classes of handwriting, the professional and personal; with the first the action is mechanical and exhibits few, if any, traces of personality. Yet in the oldest manuscripts studied and consulted there are certain defined characteristics plainly shown. The handwritings of historical and celebrated personages coincide to a remarkable degree with their known virtues and vices, as criticized and detailed by their biographers.

As the art of writing became general, its form varied more, and more, becoming gradually less formal, and each person wrote as was easiest to himself.

Education, as a rule, has a far from beneficial effect upon handwriting; an active brain creates ideas too fast to give the hand time to form the letters clearly, patiently and evenly, the matter, not the material, being to the writer of primary importance.

So as study increased among all classes, writing degenerated from its originally clear, regular lettering into every style of penmanship.

If the subject of handwriting, as a test of personality is carefully studied, it will be found that immediate circumstances greatly influence it; anxiety or great excitement of any kind, illness or any violent emotion, will for the moment greatly affect the writing. Writing depends upon so many things--a firm grasp of the pen, a pliability of the muscles, clearness of vision and brain power--even the writing materials, pens, ink and paper, all make a difference. It is not strange, then, that with so many causes upon which it depends, writing should be an excellent test of personality, temperament and bodily health.

Excitability, hastiness, temperament, personality and impatience are all seen in the handwriting at a glance. A quick brain suggests words and sentences so fast, one upon another, that though the pen races along the page, it cannot write down the ideas quickly enough to satisfy the author.

Temper depends upon temperament. The crosses of the letter "t" are the index whereby to judge of it. If those strokes are regular through a whole page of writing, the writer may be assumed to have an even-placed temper; if dashed off at random-quick short strokes somewhat higher than the letter itself, quick outbursts of anger may be expected, but of short duration, unless the stroke is firm and black, in which case great violence may safely be predicted.

Uncertainty of character and temperament is shown by the variation of these strokes to the letter "t." Sometimes the cross is firm and black, then next time it is light, sometimes it is omitted altogether, varying with each repetition of the letter like the opinions and sentiments of an undecided person. The up and down strokes of the letters tell of strength or weakness of will; graduations of light and shade, too, may be observed in the strokes.

Capital letters tell us many points of interest. By them originality, talent and mental capacity are displayed, as well as any deficiency or want of education. There are two styles of capital letters at present in use. The high-class style employed by persons of education is plain and often eccentric, but without much ornamentation. The other may be called the middle-class, for it is used by servants and tradespeople, having a fair amount of education, mingled with a good deal of conceited ignorance and false pride.

With these last, the capital letters are much adorned by loops, hooks and curves, noticeable principally in the heads of the letters, or at their commencements.

Therefore to become an expert on handwriting, a careful study must be made of the writings of those whose life and character, together with personal peculiarities, are intimately known and understood, and from this conclusions may be drawn and rules arrived at for future use. Get some friend to write his name and from your knowledge of his character follow rules given in this work and you will find that a correct conclusion will be arrived at. The same correct solution will be found by studying any signature.

Affection is marked by open loops and a general slant or slope of the writing. A hard nature, unsympathetic and unimpressionable, has very little artistic feeling or love of the fine arts; therefore the same things which indicate a soft, affectionate disposition will also indicate poetry, music and painting, on one or other kindred subjects. The first of these accompanies a loving, impulsive nature. In painting, four things are absolutely necessary to produce an artist, form, color, light and shade. Success in art implies a certain degree of ambition, and consequently upon its vanity and egotism; hence an artist's signature is generally peculiar and often unreadable from its originality, egotism and exuberance of creative power.

Imagination and impulse do not tend to improve handwriting. The strokes are too erratic. Haste is visible in every line. A warm-hearted, impulsive person feels deeply and passionately at the moment of writing and dashes off the words without regard to the effect they will produce upon the reader.

Truth and straightforwardness give even lines running across the page and at regular distances from one word to another. Tact is very essential. This quality requires often slight deceptions to be allowed or practiced; hence an unevenness in the writing is observed. Untruthfulness gives greater unevenness still; but do not rush to conclusions on this point for an unformed handwriting shows this peculiarity very often, being due, not to evil qualities, but to an unsteady hand employed in work to which it is unused.

Very round, even writing, in which the words are not closed, denotes candor and openness of disposition, with an aptitude for giving advice, whether asked or unasked, and not always of a complimentary kind.

Blunt, crabbed writing suggests obstinacy and a selfish love of power, without thought for the feelings of others. True selfishness gives every curve an inward bend, very marked in the commencement of words or capital letters.

Perseverance and patience are closely allied. In the former the letter "t" is hooked at the top and also its stroke has a dark, curved end, showing that when once an idea has been entertained no earthly persuasion will alter or eradicate it. Such writers have strongly defined prejudices and are apt to take very strong dislikes without much cause.

Carelessness and patience also are frequently linked together, more often in later life, when adversity has blunted the faculties, or the drill routine of an uneventful existence has destroyed all romance. Then the writing has short, up and down strokes, the curves are round, the bars short and straight; there are no loops or flourishes, and the whole writing exhibits great neatness and regularity.

Economy of living, curiously enough, is marked by a spare use of ink. The terminals are abrupt and blunt, leaving off short. Where economy is the result of circumstances, not disposition, only some of the words are thus ended, while others have open, free curves and the long letters are looped.

Generosity and liberality may be seen likewise in the end curve of every word. Where these characteristics are inconstant and variable, the disposition will be found to be uncertain--liberal in some matters, while needlessly economical and stingy in others.

When a bar is placed below the signature, it means tenacity of purpose, compared with extreme caution; also a dread of criticism and adverse opinions. No dots to the letter "i" means negligence and want of attention to details, with but a small faculty of observation. When the dots are placed at random, neither above nor in proximity to the letter to which they belong, impressionability, want of reflection and impulsiveness may be anticipated.

Ambition and gratified happiness give to the whole writing an upward tendency, while the rest of the writing is impulsive without much firmness.

Sorrow gives every line of the writing a downward inclination. Temporary affliction will at once show in the writing. A preoccupied mind, full of trouble, cares little whether the letter then written is legible or not; hence the writing is erratic, uncertain, and the confusion of mind is clearly exhibited in every line. Irritable and touchy persons slope the nourishes only, such as the cross of the letter "t" and the upper parts of the capital letters. When the capital letters stand alone in front of the words and the final letters also are isolated, it betokens great creative power and ideality, such as would come from an author and clever writer.

The most personal part of a letter or document is, of course, the signature, but alone without any other writing it is not always a safe guide to character. In many instances the line placed below or after a signature tell a great deal more than the actual name. A curved bending line below a signature, ending in a hook, indicates coquetry, love of effect, and ideality. An exaggerated, common-like form of line means caprice, tempered by gravity of thought and versatility of ideas. An unyielding will, fiery, and at the same time determined, draws a firm hooked line after the signature. A wavy line shows great variety in mental power, with originality. Resolution is shown in a plain line, and extreme caution, with full power to calculate effect and reason a subject from every point of view, is shown by two straight dashes with dots, thus --:--

The personality of a writer can never be wholly separated from his works. And in any question of date or authenticity of a document being called in dispute, the value of graphology and its theories will be found of the utmost importance, for the various changes in the style of handwriting, or in the spelling of words, although, perhaps, so minute and gradual as seldom to be remarked, are, nevertheless, links in a chain which it would be extremely hard to forge successfully so as to deceive those acquainted with the matter as well as versed in its peculiarities.

See specimens of handwriting in Appendix with descriptions thereof.