Graphology

"It has long been accepted by all societies that the signature of a man can be used to identify his transactions: this signature is now accepted by law, on bonds, deeds and other official documents. If you make an affidavit for a Court of Law, you confirm it with your signature. By writing your signature on a cheque you dispose of your own money. To forge another person's signature is a crime heavily punished by the criminal law of every country."
Dr Eric Singer.

We all recognize writing on envelopes from close friends and relatives and have noted that our own handwriting suffers when we are under emotional or physical stress. Therefore it is not surprising that efforts should be made to compare handwriting with emotions, with character and with strengths and weaknesses.

In 1875, the French Abbot, Jean Hyppolyte Michon, coined the phrase "Graphology", from the Greek: "Graph" meaning, 'To write' or 'I write', and "Logos" meaning 'doctrine' or 'theory'. Although the term 'graphology' is relatively recent, however, the subject itself dates back many centuries, having originally (as far as we can tell) been taken from Southern India to China and from there to Greece, circa 2,000 BC. Coming closer to present day, relatively speaking, Aristotle wrote: "Just as all men do not have the same speech sounds, neither do they all have the same writing", and Confuscius is recorded as having observed, "Handwriting can infallibly show whether it comes from a person who is noble-minded or from one who is vulgar". But it is not until 1622 that the study of handwriting was put into print, by the Italian Camillo Baldi, "How to recognize from a letter the nature and quality of a writer". This was little more than a collection of random observations though, and remained virtually unnoticed.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the German, Lavater, and the Frenchmen, Edouard Hocquart and Abbé Flandrin, developed the art of interpreting handwriting. But it was not until the second half of the century, when Michon published the results of his many years research into individual handwriting movements, that the subject began to arouse public interest. His method gained popularity owing to its simplicity; he studied certain elements in handwriting, namely the 'stroke', the 'letters', the 'words', the 'baseline', 'paragraphs', 'free movements' ('i' dots and 't' bars), 'flourishes', 'punctuation' and 'paraphs'. However, his method of allocating one specific movement to represent one aspect of character, and in particular his assertion that the lack of a movement indicated the opposite characteristic, is now recognized as only being partly accurate. Michon's successors, particularly his student, Jule Crepieux-Jamin disagreed with this principle, and also with the practice of attributing rigid interpretations to single signs.

Crepieux-Jamin, who spent his life collating and improving upon Michon's observations, is today credited with founding the "Societé Francais de Graphologie". He defined the various elements of handwriting which today form the basis of the French school of graphology, and divided these elements into seven categories: Dimension, Form, Pressure, Speed, Direction, Layout and Continuity.

To every element in the handwriting, Crepieux-Jamin attributed a range of possible meanings; he insisted that the value of any given sign is not fixed and that its significance and interpretation can vary depending upon the other features in the writing. This theory is now supported by all professional graphologists. In other words, no single feature in handwriting can be taken reliably to represent anything about the writer, unless it is supported by other factors in the writing.

At approximately the same time in Germany, William T Preyer recognized the fact that 'handwriting' is in fact 'brainwriting'. He correctly postulated that should the writer lose his writing arm, as did Nelson for example, and have to use the opposite hand, or even the mouth or foot as in the case of paralysis, the same basic tendencies will appear in the script, although obviously not executed with such fluency at first.

In 1897, the 2nd "Graphological Periodical" was founded in Germany by Hans Busse (who also formed the Association for Graphological Research). The chief contributors were Dr Georg Meyer and Busse's assistant editor, Dr Ludvig Klages. Meyer's work was important, but even his greatest contributions were overshadowed by the eminence of Klages. Later, Klages moved to Switzerland where he was to continue his research work and create the first complete and systematic theory of graphology.

Also in Switzerland, Dr Max Pulver, a renowned psychologist who had a deep interest in graphology, was to make a further contribution, in terms of the symbolism in handwriting, both in direction and in symbolism of space. His division of the handwriting into the three vertical 'zones' explains aspects of the handwriting previously misunderstood, with his formulation of the 'Three Dimensions' - vertical movement, horizontal movement, and depth - providing an integral understanding of graphology as we know it today.

These latter graphologists, Preyer, Klages and Pulver, made greater attempts than their predecessors to appreciate the inner psychological causes of graphic expression. They were able to draw upon a more highly developed understanding of a psychological characterology which for the first time attempted to penetrate the psyche of the writer.

• Many books began to appear as the subject gained public interest, some of whose authors also furthered the science of graphology, including:
• Robert Saudek, A Czech Graphologist who came to live in England, is acknowledged as having established "speed" in handwriting. Today, no serious graphologist would consider assessing handwriting without first ascertaining the speed.
• Hans Jacoby, a contemporary of Saudek's, also produced books aimed at the general public, based upon what he termed "the science of the expression of movements", revealing that gestures seen in the writer's body language, i.e. manner of walking, expressive movements of hands and arms, etc., were also reflected in the handwriting.
• Alfred O Mendel, whose book "Personality in Handwriting" included a lengthy dissertation on pressure in handwriting, in which he introduced a new approach to the interpretation given to direction of pressure, depending upon the writer's personal proclivities, and demonstrated that this single subject could be broken down into many different areas, each of which indicated highly revealing aspects of the writer.
• Klara Roman, a Hungarian graphologist who emigrated to the USA, included the results of considerable research into pressure in her excellent book, "Handwriting, A Key To Personality" (recently reprinted by the Institute).
• And in Germany, Professor Rudolph Pophal (whose books are currently being translated into English) who held the Chair in Psychology and Graphology at the University of Hamburg, brought graphology into the area of research and made many discoveries related to brain and muscle structuring, which confirmed the earlier assertion of Preyer's, that handwriting is indeed 'brainwriting'.
  (All books available from the Administration Manager)

GRAPHOLOGY COMES TO BRITAIN

Although fairly well established on the European continent, notably Germany and France, graphology was largely unknown in this country until the second world war. At that time, many graphologists, amongst them Dr Eric Singer (a student of Klages) came to Britain, hoping to continue their profession here, only to find the subject virtually unknown. In order to bring it to the attention of the public, several graphologists began producing "popular" books for 'the man in the street', including Singer's "Graphology For Everyman" (now available in the trilogy of Singer's books, "A Manual of Graphology"). This was a breakthrough in the subject with public reaction indicating the demand for more information on the subject.

In 1982 the 'Graphology Society' was formed by journalist and author of several graphological books, Patricia Marne and her colleague John Beck. The Graphology society offered the first meeting place with regular lectures, for anyone interested in the subject.

The following year, Francis T Hilliger (a student of Dr Singer's) founded The British Institute of Graphologists which was constitutionally formed with elected committee, regular meetings and a quarterly journal, "The Graphologist".

Frank Hilliger devised a system of graphology which further simplified the process of analysing handwriting, reducing the number of categories within signs, based upon a method for establishing the speed and form level of the writing. His system was much less complicated and therefore easier to learn, proving so successful that upon setting up the Institute the "Hilliger" system was adopted as examination syllabus.