Handwriting Tools

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HANDWRITING

John Hancock signed the American colonies' Declaration of Independence in a large
bold script so that, he said, King George III of England would have no trouble reading it.
The handwriting of adults is not as individualized as their fingerprints, but it is distinctive
enough that it is highly unlikely that any two persons write exactly the same.

Handwriting, as distinguished from printing, has come to refer to the form of writing
peculiar to each person. Individuality in handwriting occurs among members of the
same family as well as among classmates who are taught the same system of writing
by the same teacher. This individualization apparently begins very early in life, when a
preschool child is still scribbling and drawing.

Handwriting Identification

Although not as distinctive as a person's fingerprints or voice, the identification of
handwriting is often a vital procedure in law, when the authenticity of a signature is in
question. There are also times when the signature itself is not doubted, but there is
concern about the conditions under which it was written. This is particularly true in
determining the validity of wills and other legal documents. It sometimes can be
demonstrated that the writer's hand was forced or guided, or that the writer was not in a
proper mental condition to sign his or her name.

Graphology

It has long been believed that character and personality traits can be inferred from a
person's handwriting. The name for this study is graphology. Derived from the Greek, it
means simply "knowledge of handwriting." The theory holds that a systematic analysis
of the way words and letters are formed can reveal the inner nature of the individual.
Factors such as the size and slant of letters, spacing between letters, degree of
connectedness, and other measurable aspects of writing have been studied. There are
also indicators of the speed and pressure of writing.

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Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia
Copyright © 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 The Learning Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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HISTORY OF CALLIGRAPHY
HANDWRITING TOOLS