Some Characteristics of 18th century British-American Handwriting
# there were no typewriters, so personal writing was handwritten. Commercial writing was handwritten or printed with type on a press.
# Upper case letters were used to begin nouns as well as to begin sentences.
# The lower case s was written in elongated form at the beginning of a word, in the middle of a word, and when written twice, as in pass. The elongated s can be mistaken for an f, and ss can look something like a p.
# Shortened versions of words were indicated by begi
# Spelling was not standardized. Writers would spell words differently in different documents or even within a single document. Look at Martha Ballard’s spelling and notice how much it varied. Like many other informal writers of her time, Martha often spelled her words phonetically, using the way the words sounded as a guide. Although challenging to read, such spelling tells us much about pronunciation before sound recordings existed.
# In words like the, y could stand for the th and the e was added in superscript. The y was pronounced as we pronounce a th today.
# In some hands, upper case K, P, and R can look similar, as can J and T. Also, at times L and S will be confusing because of similarities.
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A FAMOUS FORGERY
Very few cases have arisen in this country in which the genuineness of handwriting was the chief contention, and in which such momentous interests were at stake, as in the case of the forged "Morey-Garfield Letter." It was such as to arouse and a... A WARNING TO BANKS AND BUSINESS HOUSES
The following chapter is written by Mr. William C. Shaw, of Chicago, the well-known handwriting expert and expert on forgery, whose services are called in all important forgery and disputed handwriting cases in the country. It is replete with fac... CHARACTER AND TEMPERAMENT INDICATED BY HANDWRITING
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<img src="/images/036.jpg" alt="CHARACTERISTIC WRITING OF A FEW OF THE WORLD'S BEST-KNOWN LITERARY MEN AND AUTHORS." width="536" height="949"> ... CHARACTERISTIC WRITING OF SOME OF THE BEST KNOWN MEN IN THE BANKING WORLD OF THE UNITED STATES
<img src="/images/025.jpg" alt="Signatures of best known men in the banking world of the United States." width="528" height="629"> <img src="/images/026.jpg" alt="More signatures of best known men in the banking world of the United States." width="5... CURIOUS AND FREAKISH SIGNATURES OF WELL-KNOWN BANKERS AND BUSINESS MEN
<img src="/images/029.jpg" alt="Curious and freakish signatures of well-known bankers." width="539" height="894"> <img src="/images/030.jpg" alt="Curious and freakish signatures of well-known bankers." width="534" height="1476"> <img src="/images... DETECTING FORGERY WITH THE MICROSCOPE
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largest detective agencies in the United States. They make a specialty of bank work and from the number of forgers apprehended and convicted know just how the work is done. A careful reading of this chapter will put bankers and the public on thei... FORGERY BY TRACING
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<img src="/images/004.jpg" alt="A mechanical or artificial hand in copy-book style, lightly and delicately traced." width="309" height="88"> A mechanical or artificial hand in copy-book style, lightly and delicately traced. <img src="/images/00... GREATEST DANGER TO BANKS
Raising checks has become the greatest danger to the banks. There is no comparison between raising checks with a genuine signature and forging the signature itself, so far as ease of execution is concerned. After many years of arduous work and af... GREELEY'S LAST LETTER
<img src="/images/022.jpg" alt="This was the last letter ever written by Horace Greeley, America's famous editor and horrible penman." width="382" height="509"> This was the last letter ever written by Horace Greeley, America's famous editor and hor... GUIDED HANDWRITING AND METHOD USED
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While the qualification necessary for the permission of a witness to testify in court as an expert is largely discretionary with the judge, such discretion is usually exercised with so great liberality that it is not often that a witness offered ... HOW FORGERS REPRODUCE SIGNATURES
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The inks in common use over the United States at the present time, and for some years past, are not as numerous as one might be led to conclude. They are probably fifteen or at most twenty in all, including the most popular blue, red, magenta, an... HOW TO STUDY FORGED AND DISPUTED SIGNATURES
The title to money and property of all kinds depends so lately upon the genuineness of signatures that no study or inquiry can be more interesting than one relating to the degree of certainty with which genuine writings can be distinguished from ... HOW TO WRITE A CHECK TO PREVENT FORGING
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<img src="/images/018.jpg" alt="This the writing of an extremely erratic and nervous man." width="505" height="214"> Kaiser's signature published in book sanctioned by him is the writing of an extremely erratic and nervous man. <img src="/images/... METHODS OF FORGERS, CHECK AND DRAFT RAISERS
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# there were no typewriters, so personal writing was handwritten. Commercial writing was handwritten or printed with type on a press. # Upper case letters were used to begin nouns as well as to begin sentences. # The lower case s was written in elongate... Steps in Deciphering Handwritten Documents
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It is possible for a trained expert in handwriting to tell with a fair degree of accuracy the nationality, sex, and age of any one who executes writing of any kind. A study of the handwriting of the different nations makes it comparatively easy t... TAMPERED, ERASED, AND MANIPULATED PAPER
Prof. G. Brynlants of the Belgian Academy of Sciences, who has made the detecting of forgery and disputed handwriting a study for twenty years, recently made public an account of the researches he had made and deductions arrived at with a view of... THE HANDWRITING EXPERT
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<img src="/images/034.jpg" alt="Three of America's Best-Known men." width="518" height="507"> ... THUMB-PRINTS NEVER FORGED
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Counterfeiting money is an old offense. It was done before the United States became a government, but does not seem to have become so widespread until the United States began making its own paper money during the Civil War. Prior to that time the...