History of Handwriting Analysis

 In criminal cases the use of handwriting evidence can be used to determine someone’s innocence or guilt; whether it is a suicide note or a check, handwriting can be used to determine the identity of the author and it can be used to provide insight on a case. The history of handwriting dates back to 1622 where an Italian professor of philosophy at the University of Bologna published a book describing characteristics in handwriting. Later in1870 a French scholar named Abbe Jean Michon, created the term "graphology" which means the study of different letterforms used by writers. Michon soon published a book that analyzed the penmanship that writers used when writing. Following his book publication, graphology became studied across Europe and in 1895 over 2,200 researchers had published books on the subject. Then in 1910 a shorthand teacher, Milton Newman Bunker, studied his handwriting and soon discovered a correlation between writing and personal traits. Bunker published his findings and  later created an organization named International Graphoanalysis Society, which is still in use today for the study graphology.


Abbe Jean Michon



Milton Newman Bunker's Book