It has been my privilege and pleasure over a number of years to be a co-worker as well as a student of Irene Marcuse, the author of this book. Through this association I am in a position to know that the material herein will be of great value to all students of graphology and an inspiration to those who are already experienced analysts of handwriting.

The author has had a wide experience as an analyst and as a vocational counselor on the Continent and in this country. There is a wealth of instructive material in her unique ex­amples of various types of handwriting, and her constructive and psychological analyses thereof.

Through my collaboration with Irene Marcuse, doors of knowledge have been opened for me in the field of graph­ology which had hitherto been closed as my studies of the subject had been solely in English. This statement does not mean to imply that we do not have some good text books written in English; we have a few excellent ones, but it is well known that the most extensive works on this subject have been written in the French and German languages. For­tunately, some of these books are available in this country, and it is from them that I have received the greater part of my tutelage under Irene Marcuse. She has very generously given me access to her library and her vast collection of hand­writings written in many languages. Through these speci­mens from many lands one can find the proof of the equality of man clearly demonstrated. The characteristics of a man can be detected, regardless of race, creed or color through the singularity of his handwriting. It is true that every language has its national individuality of script, but in graphology we find all races have a common heritage.

It is through the discovery of these common traits in all races that a knowledge of the character of all men can be detected regardless of intents to deceive. Dependability of character is always important, and this science which reveals the character is of great value to business men both large and small who wish to hire the right type of person for a certain position. The ability to know better those we live close to aids in harmonizing home life. It is with the knowledge of the benefits of graphology that I can proudly endorse the con­tents of this book with deepest gratitude to the author for her assistance in enlarging my understanding of the subject.

For those who know little of the background of graphology, I will try to indicate some of the high points of this science. The claims now made by modern graphologists have met the critical approval of men of academic and learned societies. Therefore, it is not surprising that the constantly increasing interest shown by the American public in character analysis as interpreted by handwriting has been the stimulus for this book. Its aim is to demonstrate the benefits of graphology and to acquaint the public with the importance of its usage. All analyses herein are made from scientific and psychological conclusions.

In this introduction it will be well to clear up some of the puzzling impressions the public has in general of the usage of graphology. In the first place, a scientific analysis is not made through intuition or simple surmise, but upon the principles which have already passed the stage of mere obser­vation. Although intuition does play a certain part in graph­ology, just as it does in all analyses, we do not accept it or let it influence us in our interpretations until after our scientific work has been validated. Stress must be laid on the fact that predictions are not made in graphology. However, it is not denied that extraordinary and penetrating deductions can be made by those who are particularly gifted with an innate talent in judging character from handwriting. It is to those people we owe the first interpretations of graphology. Serious students and doctors have amassed a collection of drawings and handwritings as evidence of certain factors repeating themselves in handwriting, and it is through their investiga­tions and wide experience that the claims of graphology are truly justified.

To inform those who are unfamiliar with the necessary attributes for a graphologist and how his analyses are made, I will briefly outline some of the requirements. First, a good graphologist must have an understanding of human nature and its complexities and a delicate perception of the manner in which adjustments can be made from resultant facts. He must be a natural psychologist and, generally speaking, he is far better equipped if he has studied psychology as we are acquainted with it today. He must be sincere and have an honest desire to patiently work out the subtleties which lie behind each specimen of handwriting. He must guard all confidences written and verbal with religious discretion.

For his physical equipment the graphologist should have an adequate specimen of handwriting executed in ink, a magnifying glass and a scheme of study to cover all the signs in the specimen such as: pressure, angle, regularity, spacing, height, width, finals, letters, words, groupings, etc.

You may ask, "What is an adequate specimen of hand­writing for a character analysis?" It can be a few lines written in ink with the signature, if possible, and a group of numer­als as 1,2,3,4. For example, 20 to 30, inclusive. The age and sex of the writer should be stated.

The above mentioned would be a small specimen, but an expert graphologist can make an analysis from a surprisingly small amount of writing. It is easily understood that the more material he has to work from, the more it will facili­tate the analysis. An ideal example to work from is: a letter in ink of one or more pages with signature and the addressed envelope, in which the letter is enclosed, and any other docu­ments of the writer which have been written over a period of years in order to make comparisons of the graphic growth or deterioration of the writer.

Parents should keep specimens of their children's hand­writing through their school years. It is very interesting even for the layman to note the definite changes in the writing of children at certain periods, and certainly valuable if one cares to have an analysis made for vocational guidance.

Handwriting is mind writing and we work from that prin­ciple. Can there be any doubt as to its value?

Handwriting containing constructive traits clearly indi­cates the making of a good citizen, and when we find the opposite characteristics in the writing of a child or employee we know that they need help to make adjustments for a pro­ductive life. This is the aim of graphology.

SOME OF THE USES OF GRAPHOLOGY

It may surprise you to learn that there are many influential business and professional men who are aware of the benefits derived through the services of a graphologist. They employ this method to help determine in what department the appli­cant for employment would be best suited. The misplacing of able people who are perhaps temperamentally unsuited for certain situations has led to such discord and expense in organizations that it has been recognized advisably to deter­mine beforehand the psychological adaptability of the new employee, as well as his efficiency, for the particular position to be filled.

Many personnel managers now demand applications to be made in handwriting. Credit managers find graphology a simple means to gauge honesty. Parents, teachers, social workers, and lawyers use graphology to discover the abilities of those they are advising and trying to place in productive vocations.

All kinds of domestic, personal, and business problems can be benefited through the application of graphology, a science, which gives you a positive knowledge of yourself and others.

Graphology is a means of determining the suitability of men and women for each other in married life. It is wise to try and discern the character and temperament of a future mate while there is time to make adjustments before mar­riage. Many unhappily married couples turn to graphology to help solve misunderstandings, which might have been avoided if they had had a better understanding of each other's character and temperament before marriage.

Graphology definitely cannot predict whether any indi­vidual will commit a crime or even suicide. However, it can detect to a certain degree, the proneness toward criminal acts, or suicide, especially in collaboration with neurology and psychiatry.

There are certain recognized graphological signs that can be found in psychosis. There is, for instance, a very charac­teristic disconnection within single letters, a smeariness or blurring, which is symptomatic of general paresis, and there are, finally, signs of a pathological tempo of the impulses, which will be discussed in the chapter on mental diseases. By research and the close study of thousand of different hand­writings, graphology has furnished sure and decisive evidence whether there are pathological indications in the writing.

In the past thirty years great progress has been made in establishing graphology as a science. This has been done by W. Preyer, a child psychologist, G. Meyer, a psychiatrist, and L. Klages, a philosopher, who gave graphology a recognized place in the modern world.

THE HISTORY OF GRAPHOLOGY

In the history of graphology we find a long line of names of brilliant persons who have shown a keen interest in the analysis of character through handwriting. Robert and Mrs. Browning, Madame De Stael, Baudelaire, Goethe, Disraeli and our own Edgar Allan Poe. They were amateurs groping in the dark, drawing their conclusions from their own inter­pretations and aesthetic sense. It was through such minds as these that the truth was revealed about what lay behind the characteristics shown in handwriting.

The first book on record written about the characterological interpretation of handwriting was published in 1622 in Florence, Italy, by Camille Baldo, a Florentine scholar.

Through the history of the growth of the analysis of hand­writing, there was an ever increasing number of erudite men circa 1830 in France, including Bishops and Cardinals. Among them was Abbe Flandrin who became the teacher of the gifted Abbe Hypolite Michon. Michon possessed an ex­traordinary gift built on innate talent in the observation of truths that lie within handwriting. He collected, arranged, and made investigations into vast quantities of handwritings.

Through his efforts and discoveries of traits in handwriting, the history of the subject really had its beginning. It was Michon who coined the word "graphology."

By this time there were more than a few serious minds who devoted their efforts to satisfying what they felt could be proved truths revealed in handwriting analysis. And in the latter part of the nineteenth century the Italian criminolo-gist, Cesare Lombroso, used handwriting extensively in his investigations. In France another criminologist, Alphonse Bertillon, used graphology as well as his methods of measure­ments as a means of identification.

Crepieux-Jamin of the French School had a contemporary in Germany named Dr. Ludwig Klages. It was he who brought the philosophical and psychological aspects into handwriting, and who used graphology to demonstrate the expression of the personal motive which has resulted in the present graphological method now recognized and used in Europe as a psycho-diagnostic instrument. His followers have amplified and refined his methods, but it was Klages who made the great and progressive step wherein graphology has grown into a study of the relation of one's handwriting to the whole picture of the person.

As time has progressed there has developed an endless bridge of brilliant minds who carry on the work which has been done in the cause of graphology. For English reading people some of the finest books have been written by Robert Saudek. He gained his knowledge of graphology on the Con­tinent and brought it to England where he wrote, practiced, and demonstrated the worth of graphology as a means of dis­cerning character and characteristics of man through his handwriting. George E. Doran of New York published some of Saudek's works.

Another author in England, Hans Jacoby, has given us some of the best books written in English on graphology. Jacoby's works contain many specimens of handwriting with analyses of specimen-samples demonstrating what can be done with graphology to help solve human relations.

In America, we have some excellent texts on the interpre­tation of handwriting by Louise Rice, De Witt Lucas, Nadya Olyanova and others. To return to the name of Ludwig Klages, who, since circa 1897, has made many discoveries about handwriting through his investigations and has estab­lished a respected place for graphology in the psychological world, attracting many brilliant minds as followers, among them the well known Swiss graphologist, Max Pulver.

Pulver enlarged and modernized the graphological find­ings of Klages through applying the psycho-analytic concept in his analyses of handwriting. He was an assistant to the famous psychologist Carl Jung, in Switzerland, with whom he worked in his psycho-analytic researches by analyzing the handwritings of the patients during treatment which proved to be a great help in determining how far the treatment had been successful.

Of great importance for the science of graphology has been the investigation of economic crimes as outlined and dis­cussed in Pulver's book, Criminal Instincts in Handwriting. Through his penetrating analyses of the handwritings of in­ternationally known financial criminals, he proved the prac­tical importance of graphological collaboration in cases of embezzlement and industrial crimes. Irene Marcuse, one of Pulver's best known disciples, continues in this line: She has been called upon in the investigation of crimes which have been committed in large banking and industrial con­cerns and in the offices of commercial houses.

Irene Marcuse has lectured in Italy at the Psychological Institute of Florence and at Rome University. She was also invited to address the Congress of the Psychological Society about crime as detected through handwriting. In New York, Irene Marcuse pursues her profession as a graphologist, lec­turer and teacher, and as an analyst for personnel managers, and as a vocational counselor.

In conclusion, if this book arouses your interest, with its new paths of investigation, I am sure you will want to pursue this study further. I know that some day the science of graphology will be applied by all thoughtful men toward success in human endeavor.

Ruth Hampton.

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