Handwriting had been analyzed in the west since 2000 years ago.  For example, in 99 BC, a Roman historian named Suetonius; analyzed the handwriting of Caesar Augustus.  It is also being noted that in the European Middle Ages, only priests and monks were allowed to learn this skill.  No one else was allowed to understand these secrets that lead to the understanding of human personality.

Fortunately the situation changed during the Renaissance.  Many intellectuals became interested in studying about people’s handwriting; for example William Shakespeare once said,  “Give me the handwriting of a woman and I will tell you her character.”

The first book on handwriting analysis was written in 1662 in Florence, Italy by Camillo Baldi who was accredited the father of handwriting analysis.  He was an author, professor of medicine and psychology at Bologne University.  Since then people began to use the skill that Professor Camillo Baldi taught to analyse the handwriting of others.

In the 19th Century, handwriting analysis was extensively researched by scientists; mostly in France.  A French priest, Abbe Flandrin dedicated his life in researching about handwriting analysis.  His student, Abbe Jean Hypployte Michon established the basic rules for determining correspondences between handwriting traits and elements of personality after thirty years of research.

In 1871, Abbe Jean Hyppolyte Michon published the results of his research in his book “Systeme de Graphologie” and then the second book “La Graphologie ou l’Art de Reconnaitre les Hommes d’apres leur Ecriture” that was published in 1878. 

Michon’s student, Jean Crepieux-Jamin carried on the development of this science.  He wrote two books, “L’Ecriture et le Caractere” and “L’ABC de la Graphologie” that became the primary teaching materials in the French schools of graphology.  He emphasized that strokes must not be analysed in isolation but in relation to the whole writing.  It means that there are two procedures in analysing the handwriting: analysis and synthesis.  Synthesis relates to the intricacies of how the mind works.

From then on, more and more respected philosophers, psychologists and scientists studied handwriting analysis; about how the personality could be revealed through handwriting and digging more deeply to open the veil of the handwriting mystery.

In 1915, Milton Bunker began his studies in handwriting and established the American Grapho-analysis Society in the United States.  Milton Bunker’s concept had influenced the teaching and understanding of the present handwriting analysis.

In addition to this, researches have continued mostly in Europe establishing the statistical validity of the correlation between strokes in handwriting and traits of personality.

** Taken from “Handwriting Analysis – The Certification Course” Written by Dr Ray Walker and “Handwriting Analysis as a Shortcut to Understanding and Success” by Chou Wen-chuan and Dennis Rudolph