History of handwriting analysis and the research behind graphology

The scientific study of handwriting analysis has only been practiced for about 150 years, but people have been intrigued with the shape of their handwriting for as long as letters have existed.

The ancient Roman book Lives of the Caesars, for example, discussed the links between handwriting analysis and personality. And one of those Caesars, Nero, is said to have taken a serious interest in the subject.

A theory of handwriting and personality was first formulated by Frenchman Francis Demelles in 1609. In the years that followed, handwriting analysis became a huge fad.

Such famous authors as Robert Browning, Baudelaire and John Keats dabbled in the analysis of handwriting. And the German master Goethe wrote that “in the writings of every man, the character of the writer must be recorded.”

Another famous writer who became convinced that handwriting analysis held secrets was the poet Sir Walter Scott, who once said: “… I could not help but disapprove, according to an opinion I heard seriously held, that something of a man’s character can be surmised from his handwriting.”

However, the real birth of this science came around 1860, when two French monks, Abbé Flandrin and Abbé Jean Hippolyte Michon, began compiling huge archives of handwriting samples and studying them for common features. Abbe Michon invented the word “graphology” to describe his work and published the first major books in the field.

In the late 19th century, Germany took the lead in graphology through the work of Dr. Ludwig Klages, a philosopher whose five books on the analysis of handwriting form the basis of modern science.

Germany remains the center of graphology today. The study of handwriting is included in many courses in German medical schools. Psychologists and medical doctors can become certified graphologists through a tough three-year program of study.

In the United States, on the other hand, handwriting analysis has not been as widely accepted. To many, it has simply seemed like an ingenious parlor game, not a true science. Still, graphology has played an interesting role in American criminology and business.

Graphologists have been involved in many of the most famous court cases of this century. During the infamous Lindbergh kidnapping case, for example, a major newspaper chain hired graphologist Milton Bunker to examine Bruno Hauptman’s handwriting. Hauptman had been accused of kidnapping and killing the son of flying hero Charles Lindbergh. He swore that he was innocent.

The newspaper wanted to see if his handwriting revealed any clues. Bunker’s study convinced him of the strong possibility that Hauptman was telling the truth. But he was convicted and electrocuted for the crime, anyway.

In the more recent Son of Sam murders in New York and the Zodiac murder spree in San Francisco, handwriting analysts were employed to help create images of the killers’ personalities from the notes they had written.

Courts sometimes use handwriting analysts to compare signatures on important documents and to testify about a person’s state of mind while writing a particular passage.

In business, handwriting analysis is becoming an important tool for selecting employees. Some 2,000 US companies use graphologists as consultants.

Companies also use handwriting analysis to uncover corrupt workers. In one case, Father Norman Werling, a New Jersey priest and graphologist, was called in to investigate widespread credit card fraud at a gas station. His examination of a worker’s handwriting convinced a judge to issue a search warrant that led to the arrest of a night manager for the crime.

You probably won’t be able to achieve such spectacular results to begin with, but you should realize that examining handwriting is more than just a game. It is an ancient tradition that has important modern applications.

If you practice hard and get really good at graphology, you might even be able to make a living from handwriting analysis.