Steps in Deciphering Handwritten Documents
The more 18th century writing you read, the easier it will become. If you are having difficulty reading a handwritten document, you could try some of these suggestions:
* Look at the document as a primary source. Try to find answers to the basic questions: Who wrote this document? When? What does it say? Why? How?
* In trying to date the document, consider the kind of writing instrument used, the type and date of the paper, the style of writing, the author, and inte
* Study samples of hands from penmanship books of the time and become familiar with the varieties of hands.
* In the document you are trying to read, find words that you know.
* Use internal evidence to help you. Figure out what kind of document this is and become familiar with some of the standard phrases likely to appear in such a document at that time. For instance, look at some deeds or probate records. Certain legal phrases are likely to appear and reappear.
* Begin transcribing the document by writing the words you know and leaving space to write the mystery words once you decipher them.
* Put guesses in brackets in your transcription. The brackets say, "This could be this word or these letters, but I’m not quite sure." For example, notice the brackets in the McCausland transcription of Martha Ballard’s diary.
* Find individual letters in the document, using the letters in the words you know as guides. Compare and compare. Eventually you will start to recognize letters and then combinations of letters more easily.
* Read odd looking words aloud, phonetically. Maybe the sound will help you recognize an oddly-spelled word.
* If the writer is particularly idiosyncratic and hard to decipher, create a personalized alphabet guide by marking letters on a photocopy. You could also cut and paste a photocopy to create a complete alphabet style sheet to use as a reference.
* Look up odd and unfamiliar words in the Oxford English Dictionary. This multivolume dictionary is the most complete available and includes archaic and obscure words unlikely to appear in abridged dictionaries.
* Some words associated with particular occupations or sciences might also be found in eighteenth- century instructional texts about those subjects.
* Get knowledgeable professional help if faded ink makes reading impossible. Ultraviolet light, various chemical treatments, photographing with colored filters, and infrared photographing are options that might help. Professionals with the proper equipment and know-how will help ensure that the treatment doesn’t damage the document.
* Return to the document several times after leaving it for awhile. Sometimes clarity will intervene, and words you could not recognize before will seem simple to read later.
* Ask others what they think mystery words say. Sometimes fresh eyes will see what you do not.
* Enjoy the quest!
More
-
The Tented Arch
In the tented arch, most of the ridges enter upon one side of the impression and flow or tend to flow out upon the other side, as in the plain arch type; however, the ridge or ridges at the center do not. There are three types of tented arches: ... The Use Of The Fingerprint Camera
If a fingerprint is visible, an effort should be made to photograph it before any attempt is made to develop it. In every case a print developed with powder should be photographed before lifting. It sometimes happens that the print does not lift p... The Whorl
The patterns to which numerical values are assigned in deriving the primary in the extension of the Henry System of fingerprint classification used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation are the whorl-type patterns, which occur in about 30 percent o... Types Of Patterns
Fingerprints may be resolved into three large general groups of patterns, each group bearing the same general characteristics or family resemblance. The patterns may be further divided into sub-groups by means of the smaller differences existing bet... Unidentified Latent Fingerprint File
From time to time the FBI is requested to conduct surveys and participate in conferences and in police schools on the problem of fingerprint identification. As a result of its observations in the course of these activities it has been found tha... Wanted Notices
All wanted notices containing fingerprints, including the wanted notices inserted in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, should be filed in the fingerprint file by classification formula, and the names appearing on these wanted notices should be index... Water-soaked Fingers
The third and final type of case which may confront the identification officer concerns the problem of maceration, that is, long immersion of the fingers in water. One of the cardinal rules for securing legible impressions is that the fingers mus... Whorl Tracing
The technique of whorl tracing depends upon the establishment of the focal points--the deltas. Every whorl has two or more. When the deltas have been located, the ridge emanating from the lower side or point of the extreme left delta is traced until... X-ray Photography
The use of X-ray photographs (radiography) has been advocated by some for purposes of recording the ridge details in decomposed, desiccated, or macerated cases. Briefly, the procedure involves the covering of the fingers with heavy salts such as bis... 18th Century Reading and Writing
Historians soon learn not to assume that people in the past thought about and experienced life in the same ways that we do today. Something as basic to us as writing was quite different in 18th Century British-America. British-Americans in that century sp... 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
A person's handwriting is really a part of himself. It is an expression of his personality and his character and is as characteristic of his general make-up as his gait or his tone of voice. There is always a direct and apparent connection... CHARACTERISTIC WRITING OF A FEW OF THE WORLD'S BEST-KNOWN LITERARY MEN AND AUTHORS
<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
In all examinations of questioned signatures to determine the individual habit of the writer the use of the compound microscope is a necessity to obtain the best field for study and analysis for the reason that the most important details are ofte... DETECTING FRAUD AND FORGERY IN PAPERS AND DOCUMENTS
The art of detecting forgery or fraud, in checks, drafts, documents, seals, writing materials, or in the characters themselves is a study that has attracted handwriting experts since its study was taken up. There are almost infallible rules for t... ERASURES, ALTERATIONS AND ADDITIONS
Erasure or erazuer, as it is more commonly called in England, from the Latin word "scrape or shave" is the scraping or shaving of a deed, note, signature, amount or of any formal writing. In England, except in the case of a will, the presumption,... FORGERY AS A PROFESSION
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
Forgery by tracing is one of the most common and most dangerous methods of forgery. There are two general methods of perpetrating forgeries, one by the aid of tracing, the other by free-hand writing. These methods differ widely in details,... FOUR ORDINARY SIGNATURES WITH DESCRIPTIONS
<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
Guided handwriting is one of the most frequent means of forgery and oftentimes the most difficult to detect. It has been established that with care the elements of each handwriting can be detected and proven in a guided signature. The leading han... HANDWRITING EXPERTS AS WITNESSES
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
In detailing matters which experience suggests as importantly connected with the examination of disputed signatures, there are none more essential to a proper consideration of the subject than an understanding of those characteristics often appea... HOW SOME CELEBRATED WOMEN WRITE
<img src="/images/033.jpg" alt="HOW SOME CELEBRATED WOMEN WRITE." width="563" height="555"> ... HOW TO DETECT FORGED HANDWRITING
Few persons outside of the banking and legal fraternity are aware of the frequency with which litigations arise from one or another of the many phases of disputed handwriting; doubtless most frequently from that of signatures to the various forms... HOW TO DETERMINE AGE OF ANY WRITING
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
Among the casual patrons of the average bank there is a superstition that in presenting a check at a teller's window the amount of the check shall be determined by the amount spelled out in the body of the check, without regard to the figures wri... INTERESTING AUTOGRAPH SIGNATURES
<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
A professional forgery band consists of first, a capitalist or backer; second, the actual forger, known among his associates as the "scratcher"; third, the man who acts as confidential agent for the forger, known as the "middle man"; fourth, the ... SIGNATURE EXPERTS THE SAFETY OF THE MODERN BANK
One of the most trying positions in our business, is that of signature expert--the man who has to examine daily every draft that comes in through the clearing house and vouch for its genuineness. Our bank, one of the largest in London, employs si... 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 elongate... Steps in Deciphering Handwritten Documents
The more 18th century writing you read, the easier it will become. If you are having difficulty reading a handwritten document, you could try some of these suggestions: * Look at the document as a primary source. Try to find answers to the ... TALES TOLD BY HANDWRITING
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
There is no rule of law fixing the precise amount of experience or degree of skill necessary to constitute a handwriting expert. The witness need not be engaged in any particular business or claim to be a professional expert. He must, however, cl... THREE FAMOUS MILITARY MEN
<img src="/images/035.jpg" alt="Signatures of famous military men." width="574" height="210"> We present a group of signatures of famous military men. The autograph of General Grant is plain and simple in its construction, not an unnecessary movemen... THREE OF AMERICA'S BEST-KNOWN MEN
<img src="/images/034.jpg" alt="Three of America's Best-Known men." width="518" height="507"> ... THUMB-PRINTS NEVER FORGED
How to detect the forger as one of the cleverest of operating criminals has been solved by the "thumb-print" method of identification, now spreading throughout the banks, business houses and public offices of the world. It is quite as inte... WORKINGS OF THE GOVERNMENT SECRET SERVICE
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...