SOMERSET MAUGHAM, CORDELL HULL, HON. FRANCES P. BOLT ON, MAXWELL PARRISH, CARRIE NATION, DOROTHY DIX, STRICKLAND GILLILAN, HORACE GREELEY, SIR ARTHUR CON AN DOYLE, JULIA W/{RD HOWE, VICTOR HERBERT, VIDOCQ, CHARLES SPURGEON, DR. MARCUS BACH, EDGAR WALLACE.

Grapho analysis has given me one reward that cannot be measured in dollars and cents, or for that matter, in any other way I can describe. It has given me the ability to know people. All kinds of people. There have been famous religious leaders like Stephen S. Wise, the great Jewish Rabbi, and Hal Wallis, the famous motion picture producer. Great artists, some of the world's great poets, and singers, motion picture stars, and some that society describes as "rats". There has been a lot of good in many of them, but none of them has been quite as good or nearly as bad as the public gave them credit for being. Not necessarily the public, but very often their close associates, even their families.

• KNOWING PEOPLE THROUGH THEIR HANDWRITING

Many of these people I have never met, although very often we have and because I knew the individual from handwriting, we managed to find a mutual meeting on interests. There is one of the greatest of the old time motion picture stars still playing in Hollywood. We have never met, al­though we have tried hard enough, but I know her and she knows that I do, for this is what she had to say about the analysis of her handwriting.

"Grapho analysis revealed me to myself as I never thought it would. It even uncovered traits of character that I knew subconsciously that I had, and when faced with them had to admit."

In this connection I am reminded of the first time I met Charlie Ransom, whose ornate handwriting you studied in an earlier chapter (plate 118). Ransom was tall, and I was short. He put out his hand, looked down at me, and said, "From the letters you write I figured you were as big as I am." Charlie merely read what I had written, and in 1911 I did not know enough about handwriting and what it reveals to have any idea whatever about him. Years later when we were to work on questioned documents together, that little incident would come to mind, and I would smile, but I never mentioned it. However, in those later days I knew

PLATE 132. W. Somerset Maugham, one of the greatest word painters of the 20th century. See plate 133 for his handwriting.

Plate 133- The letter "g" made something like a figure 8 shows a literary tendency. Also discernible is W. Somerset Maugham's love of color.

Charlie better than he ever knew me even though he studied some grapho analysis.

When "The Moon and Six Pence" by Somerset Maugham appeared, it was sent to me by the publishers for review. It was a great book, and I said so, but it was not until years later when Maugham sent me his hand­writing that I understood his appeal to that vast audience that love his stories for their word tones, as well as for their message. Study this plate and you will find the figure 8 "g's" that show literary tendencies, but the greatest thing in the whole page is his love of color. So, though he did not become famous as a painter with oils, he won a vast following thru the pictures he painted in words that reached ten thousand times as great an audience as if he had been a Raphael.

You will have the same experience very likely with your own favorite author. Somewhere along the way you will get his or her handwriting, and you will understand the individual back of the written words. That will make both the writer and the book much nearer to you—because you too willknow the author. This is true whether your favorite author is alive or "out of print", physically as well as in the book market. There was, for instance, Augusta J. Evans Wilson, whose St. Elmo was a popular parlor stand title right alongside the Bible and a mail order catalog fifty years ago. Looking back it is possible to take this stately bit of her writing, and under­stand the dignity, even the stiff formality of her greatest seller. And it

Plate 134. Although you may never have heard of Augusta J. Evans, the author, this specimen of handwriting will reveal things to you that even the readers of her well known books never knew about her.

is just as easy to take the signature of Edgar Rice Burroughs, author of the Tarzan Tales, and understand how he stuck to his belief in Tarzan of the Apes, even though he walked the streets of Chicago with holes in the soles of his shoes, doing his best to peddle the book. He had determination. He had written a book, and he was going to sell it, which he did, opening up a brand new market for a long string of titles.

A good many years ago one of the major political parties engaged me to prepare analyses of some of the most popular United States Senators. They were each famous, but the analyses were never published. The reason was very simple. Some of them were not quite what they seemed to be to their devoted followers. When I turned the analyses in to the man who had given me the assignment, he asked me "what did you find in Senator So-and-So's writing?" My answer, "I would not believe him on a stack of Bibles a block high," brought a grin. "At least your grapho analysis is truthful. I have known the fellow for years, have watched him win election after election, and personally I wouldn't believe him on any stack of Bibles."

On the other hand, when Herbert Hoover sent me his writing in the dark depression days when even his own party was giving him milk and water support, I knew the man was honest, he was a builder, and he would have built if political opposition had not tied his hands. He was not a diplomat, and he did not know how to meet political chicanery except by straightforward talk, and the thinking an engineer would give to a major project.

Scores of men and women who have been trained have written me in election years that "we are fighting a man on our own side, solely because he is not qualified to handle the problems he will meet." These grapho analysts knew their candidates, and they were better off for knowing, even though they may have helped to defeat him. It is quite a number of years now since an analyst brought me the handwriting of a man who was a candidate for office in a middle western state. At the time I did not know of his candidacy, but that would not have made any difference. The analy­sis told the truth. That truth, circulated in proper places, closed the door to his election just as certainly as if he had been dropped in a cavern in the midst of the Rocky Mountains where there was no escape.

• SELECTING A DOCTOR THROUGH GRAPHO ANALYSIS

There have been times when grapho analysis has given me a personal protection that could not be measured in dollars and cents. My doctor told me that I needed an operation for a mastoid. Ordinarily many of those afflicted fear the operation, although competent surgery has made it far less dangerous than in years gone by. I called a specialist whose hand­writing I had analyzed. "Who", I asked him, "would you have operate if it were a member of your own family?"

"Call St. Louis, get Dr. Robert Votaw. He knows such conditions like he knows his a, b, c's. Don't write him, for he is probably too busy to reply. Call him." We made an appointment in St. Louis and I went there without knowing whether the doctor would perform the operation. But during that first interview I spotted a note pad on his desk. When he left the room I analyzed the handwriting, and a few days later when they rolled me into the operating room I was not worried. The surgeon would do his best. He will probably want to wring my neck for including this incident because doctors are very ethical about advertising, but this is not advertising, and does show how grapho analysis affects my own decisions. Not always. I have kept people around me for years after analyzing their handwriting, letting time prove the accuracy of what that writing had revealed. This has applied to both men and women, without regard to age, and as a pioneer it has meant financial loss, personal emotional agony, but always in the end grapho analysis has proved to be correct, and because this is true, the experiences I have had need not be repeated in your case. You have protection when you use the science that began to be developed back in 1910 when I set out to find why I put long finals on my words.

Plate 135. Former Secretary of State Cordell Hull. His "e" is well rounded, showing his broad-mindedness.

All of this is far apart, however, from the people I have known who are or have been in the limelight. The public names have been prominent, and many of the writers have been well worth knowing. Take the hand­writing of Cordell Hull, for example. He was, first of all, a Senator for many years, then he was Secretary of State at a time when conditions were very serious. He was criticized, condemned and praised, but let us see what his signature says about him as a man. First of all, there is a huge loop in the small "t" (not illustrated here) showing super sensitiveness, which would have been a disastrous trait if it were not that his writing ranged from vertical to backhand. The lack of slant, the up and downness of it, shows his ability to take criticism and even abuse without too strong a reaction^ To be sure he may have felt the sting of criticism. That was natural, but his poise gave him the ability to meet it without an emotional upset. His single "e" is well rounded, showing his broad-mindedness, the realization that other people's ways could be good. He was very frank, and equally generous.

Another longtime stateswoman, Frances P. Bolton, sent me only three lines of her writing which showed her remarkable comprehension, her ability to keep things to herself. Note in particular the way in which she makes the "a” in the word "made". It is a complete circle, and when you find this you have a writer who can close up like a clam keep a poker face, and talk with you all day without revealing an important secret. When Mrs. Bolton got her analysis she wrote me, "It is a long while since I have had anything as thorough as this, and I am very appreciative of the care with which it was done." Her report had run several pages, although there were only a few lines of writing from which to work, but when you know grapho analysis you can get a great deal from even a few strokes of the pen.

Plate 136. Writing of Congressman Frances P. Bolton. Note in particular the way in which she makes the "a" in the word "made." This indicates ability to keep a pokerface. Mrs. Bolton congratulated the author on the thorough analysis he made of her handwriting.

Plate 137. This autograph of artist Maxfield Parrish proves that he simply had to be an artist. For one thing, the heavy writing registers color.

Mrs. Bolton then asked me to do something she considered unusual, but which was not. "Would you let me know whether it would be possible for you to do a rather unusual thing in the way of analyzing handwriting? I have in mind diagnostic use of it—three or four, or even five different samples of the same individual's writing with a view to a very constructive helpfulness to that particular individual." My memory fails me, but it was probably done, because that is one phase of grapho analysis that has been responsible for the growth of the science of grapho analysis. Every student who has ever been trained has been advised over and over again to get the job done. Overwork may compel delay, but get it done.

Plate 138. Carrie Nation's open as and o's are most revealing. Notice the t-bars ahead of the stem, indicating temper, and the straight down strokes on her y's denoting lack of imagination. "~~

In the early 20th century days two unique women came onto the scene at about the same time. One of them hit the front pages of news­papers from coast to coast with huge black headlines, a blazing trail of destruction and reform, that was to affect a new approach to a situation which she considered outrageous. That was the dumpy, direct, and storming Carrie Nation of "hatchet" fame who was feared by bartenders and liquor men all over the country. The other was the woman who, just starting became America's most read and most famous newspaper woman, a quiet, unassuming, but brilliant woman, Dorothy Dix. Carrie's handwriting in­trigued me and provided a new light on the woman who gained such an army of followers among church people and was so reviled and hated by the liquor interests.

You will be interested in the number of times she made her t-bars ahead of the stem. As you will recognize, this showed her temper. She was not a brilliant woman, but she did like to talk, as her open-mouthed Vs" and "o's" show. She was not, however, highly impulsive. Instead, she had a friendly, neighborly emotional warmth, but her crusades were not the result of impulse. The down-strokes on her "y's" and other letters providing an opportunity to use them, are straight, and firm, but she was completely without imagination. We know this because she made no lower Joops, and her upper ones were so narrow that we know she had little imagination in the field of spiritual matters. Instead, Carrie Nation was a realist, she looked at life through very narrow lens, and when she became convinced that liquor was a national liability she merely picked up a hatchet and did the thing that she knew would deal with the problem.

On the other hand, Dorothy Dix was a brilliant and a modest woman. Just starting her newspaper career that was to lead to her place as the highest paid newspaper woman in America, she was sent to interview and report on Carrie Nation's activities. How she handled it is something you can determine for yourself by a study of this letter that Miss Dix wrote me after receiving her own analysis. Give attention to the way she makes her "in's". They start large and slope downward to the right, without losing formation. This is evidence of diplomacy. She had determination that never turns back, and there is much generosity in this page. Therefore, no matter what she thought of Carrie Nation and her campaign, it is sure that Carrie would get generous and kindly treatment. We know the kindly treatment was sure because the slant of the Dix writing is well to the right. At times she was very enthusiastic, and like so many newspaper people who have won top honors she had the ability to pick off the top of any subject just what she needed, rather than exploring it to the end.

Plate 140. Strickland Gillilan was a successful newspaper writer. In your analysis of this writing you will readily see that the slant is that of a non-emotional personality. The e's indicate a literary tendency.

Undoubtedly Dorothy Dix won her permanence in American news-paperdom through the combination of these traits. During her lifetime she was tempted many times to give up her newspaper writing, but she never did. She went straight on through, although at times the battle between doing the job and fulfilling what she may have thought were other duties, took courage.

One of the most interesting and friendliest men I have ever know without actually meeting him, was Strickland Gillilan, the man whose verse, "Off agin, on agin, Finnigin" portrayed the problem of the foreman of a railroad section crew. When Gillilan wrote his famous poem, railroads were not what they are today. The section crew labored to get their handcar over the tracks, a back-breaking job. However, Gillilan gave Finnigan a personality that went out and did the job, getting his trains back on the track and certainly and dependably as an eight day clock. As you will discover by studying his handwriting, Gillilan was not a thrifty man. Value slipped through his fingers like water, although his judgment was cool, and his emotional response was almost completely lacking. Instead, he went through life with a smile, never getting riled up, and completely free from emotional storms. You will find his small."e's" made like capitals, indicating his literary inclinations, and though the individual letters are wisely sepa­rated, they are well balanced, showing sense of rhythm. As a newspaper man Strickland Gillilan could pick the top off the news, but he was not a digger. He never made a name for himself as a newspaper man who dug deep for his stories. His handwriting shows that he would not.

Another newspaper writer who won great fame was Horace Greeley. At that time the idea of preparing newspaper copy with a typewriter was an unheard of thing, and Greeley wrote his editorials in longhand, to the annoyance of the printers, who had to read and set what they thought he said. There were countless stories of times when they set the wrong word because they could not read his writing. You will find it interesting al­though you may disagree with the criticism of its illegibility. His t-bars will no doubt interest you, showing as they do his sharp sarcastic nature. He was lightly responsive to emotional situations, and when he was emotionally stirred he could use his sharp sarcasm with remarkable effect. He was another of the newspaper men who picked the surface. There is nothing in this writing to indicate a scholar. Sharp penetrating points are rare, and in most cases the letters that might have revealed a brilliant scholar are almost formless.

Teachers who read this book will probably smile when they compare Horace Greeley's writing with that of some of their young folks. After all, there may have been something very valuable in the push and pull exercises of muscular movement. At least it represented discipline, which is im­portant in any field.

Plate 142. A. Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes and famous for his research in the occult and mystic fields. First thing you notice is that this hand­writing by its size shows concentrator The down-strokes reveal determination.

Where Greeley's writing was not copybook style by any means, that of A.'Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, was almost copper plate. You need merely glance at the Doyle letter to see the concentration; small letters_ that always indicate concentrated effort on the part of the writer. When he does something he (foes it with all his heart, centering his .efforts on one project at a time. You are familiar with the down-strokes revealing .determination, the retraced "d's" showing pride and dignity. They are both present in the Doyle writing. Many of the circle letters are open, and there is one trait that is highly important. Take the top line of the note. There are five distinct breaks between letters registering a strong sense of the intuitive, the musical interpretative sense, the capacity to have hunches.

Plate 143. Senator Saltonstall's handwriting shows capacity for making prompt. definite decisions.

These breaks repeated over and over again reveal a psychic sense, and in the case of Sir Arthur Gonan Doyle they lead to a very active interest in that age old problem of whether the dead can communicate with the living. The sharp points on his "m's" and "n's" are not pronounced but when you add the influence of concentration you have more results that you would not have if the writing were much larger. There is irritability. here, shown by the t-bars that are written ahead of the t-stems time and again. According to this evidence the famous author who began his professional life as a physician, and ended it as a leader in spiritualistic investigation, while having accumulated a permanent place in literature, could be a very testy gentleman.

• SENATOR SALTONSTALL

One of the most interesting phases of human nature has been the re­action of able men to analyses that said what they considered compli­mentary things. When I analyzed the writing he submitted to me I gave him the truth as his writing showed it. His writing showed frankness, per­sistence, and inquiring mind, great determination, judgment, a reasonable amount of concentration, and capacity for definite decisions. The large upper loops revealed a man with a strong sense of philosophy, and his t-bars were strong enough to reveal a man with a clear purpose. You can find all of these traits for yourself, using the rules you know. However, Senator Saltonstall promptly questioned the analysis because he thought it flattered him. You can see for yourself whether it did.

Many of the world's great musicians have sent me their handwriting. During the years many specimens of their writing have come into my possession. But the writing of Julia Ward Howe, the composer of the lyrics of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", like Horace Greeley's, showed more illegibility than anything else until you started to break down the stroke combinations that made the letters. She could be bitingly sarcastic, was exceedingly independent, and at the same time dignified.

Plate 144. Julia Ward Howe wrote the words to "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." This nearly illegible handwriting is interesting in what it reveals to a grapho analyst.

The shortness of the d-stems, as you know, reveal the independence, and her habit of retracing the stems revealed the dignity. She possessed great determination at times, and at other times her determination faded like the morning dew. You very often find such seeming contradictions, and we might follow through and determine exactly under what conditions Mrs. Howe would have been determined, but her writing is too dim. Too many of the strokes have faded with the years. However, keep in mind that when the writing is not faded it is possible with grapho analysis to handle such contradictions, and come up with the truth.

Plate 145. Handwriting of the great Victor Herbert shows a musical inter­pretative sense and a flair for showmanship.

Another very old handwriting, but one that is very clear and revealing, is this excerpt from a letter written by the great Victor Herbert. The way he drove the pen at the paper to make his i-dots leaves a permanent record of his irritability that at times reached the point of explosion. The flourishes at the finish of words^ like in "named", show the flair for showmanship, and his tied "t's" in "flatter" tell us even now that what he started he finished. The breaks between letters in a word give us evidence of his musical in­terpretative sense, while the heavy ink as it occurs time and again reveals the sensuousness that helped to make him a great musician.

He had imagination that was never put to full use, as his lower loop on "my" shows by not being completed. He was very definite, very decisive when he reached the point of making such a stand. However, there were times when he would do it smoothly, diplomatically. But when Victor Herbert said "no" he meant "NO".

Plate 146. Reading traits in handwriting—analyzing it—has nothing to do with being able to read the words. You can analyze this French writing of Vidocq, one time head of the French police system, as easily as you can analyze English.

The age of the writing does not matter. The style of it does not matter for all handwriting is made up of strokes, and strokes are combined to make letters, but it is the strokes that count. The writing may be in a language you do not understand. Take, for instance, this page from a letter written by Vidocq, one time head of the French police system. Vidocq started as a criminal and when he joined the surete he knew almost every criminal in France and nearby countries. He was a great success, and reached a point of world wide fame. This writing shows a man who was ruled by his feelings, one who was mentally awake all of the time, and who, when he started to investigate went to the bottom of anything that interested him. Police work interested him, and undoubtedly much of his success was due to his natural ability to explore. He was dignified, given a bit to showmanship, thrifty, irritable, and even in mature years was still self-conscious.

Plate 147. The noted evangelist, Charles H. Spurgeon, made tall d's and t s showing great pride in what he was doing.

The handwriting of possibly the greatest preacher of another genera­tion in my collection of handwriting pictures of men long gone is a page written by the great evangelist, Charles H. Spurgeon, in 1881. It shows the emotional appeal he used to stir people from the pulpit. His "d's" and "t's" are tall, showing great pride in what he was doing, and in his own personal conduct. He was determined enough to go thru with anything he undertook if it were possible. Sensitive, but this trait was not highly de­veloped. His upper loops and lower loops are very similar in size, so that we know that the religion he preached was not merely a philosophy but applied to life. You will be able to go on from this point, and really know the man as he was in the days of our grandparents.

Plate 148. Dr. Marcus Bach, Iowa University School of Religion, thanks the author for his grapho analysis, saying: "... your report is deeply penetrating, eloquently done and packed with uncanny revelations."

The other great religionist with whose name you may be familiar is the very widely read Dr. Marcus Bach of the Iowa University School of Religion. No single author has contributed as much to the study of religions as Dr. Bach, with his explorations into individual groups from Unity to Psychiana.

There are just eight different letters in this signature, but they are re­vealing. The open-mouthed "a" shows his frankness, while the second "a" shows that he can keep still when it is wise to do so. Neither of these circle letters, however, shows even the slightest inclination toward deceit. He is generous but not extravagantly so. His upper loop on the "h" is tall and generous in size. His interest in philosophy, in a better way of life, is genuine. , His two capital letters reveal, by their size in relation to the small letters, that he is not afraid.

His Iowa neighbors probably say of him "he hasn't a tight bone in his body", which is very true when we consider the liberal spacing between the letters. You have had two other rules that apply to Dr. Bach's writing and which you should have remembered clearly enough to determine what stroke shows his willingness to accept responsibility. You will also find from nothing more than a glance that no matter how self-possessed he may be on the speaking platform there is something of the self-consciousness that he had as a small boy.

Dr. Bach's truly monumental studies of religions were introduced to me by a grapho analyst whose handwriting I had analyzed. I bought an autographed copy of one of his books, and made an analysis simply because I liked the book. There was not much writing to go on, but here is his letter of comment:

"The truth of the matter is that I have been caught in flying trips to Canada, to the American Southeast, and elsewhere with such uninterrupted regularity that I feel like a flying saucer! This explains, I hope, my un­forgivable ingratitude and my failure to reply earlier to your special analysis. You may say for me in any publicity you may wish to use that your report is deeply penetrating, eloquently done and packed with uncanny revelations. This is an unsolicited endorsement of your expert diagnosis of personality through penmanship, and I want to thank you for it very much.

"May you have continued success and find many blessings in your work."

Edgar Wallace, the famous English author of who-dun-its did not hunt for criminals. He created them, so that readers sitting in their easy chairs halfway round the world could follow their exploits. His bit of writing here is certainly not as legible as it might be, but when you examine it very closely you find out a great deal about the man. Notice how he brings the last stroke in "regards" down bluntly. He does the same with the last stroke in "Wallace", as well as in "kindest" and the final "h" in "with". All blunt strokes and all showing the positive ness of his thinking. If you will turn back to the Maugham writing you will find that the two men had one thing in common. They had the color sense to paint word pictures. Maugham's writing shows more clearly defined literary talent, but if you examine these two lines of the Wallace writing you will find it here too. You have had enough experience now that you should really become well ac­quainted with the man. It will be interesting.

Plates 150 and 151. An unusual person, Erie Stan-leyGardner, has an unusual handwriting. Pay particular attention to the nourishes, the large upper loops, the Greek "e" in the word "best."

• ERLE STANLEY GARDNER

You may find it interesting to compare Edgar Wallace's two lines with another two lines, written by America's most famous producer of who-dun-its, Erie Stanley Gardner. Gardner, who is now engaged in one of the most remarkable efforts ever made in America to assist those who have bean imprisoned through manufactured or other questionable evidence, produces books, string of them. Every one is readable, with an easy fascination that holds the reader. He might give all of his time to the Court of Last Resort, but it is merely another activity, because Erie Stanley Gardner is as restless as an eel. His handwriting shows it, revealing a well developed sense of philosophy in regard to living by his large upper loops. If he has critics who say he lacks literary talent, they get a sharp rebuff from his hand­writing, where his small "e" in "best" is the Greek "e" that was accepted by even the graphologists long before grapho analysis was developed. His flourishes reveal his restless energy, his natural ability to do things in a big way, and his final flourish, like the center one in my own signature in Chapter 7, where the "k" is made like a huge hump in the center of the last name, reveals his indifference to criticism, if and when it occurs.

EXAMINATION FOR CHAPTER 13

Your knowledge of grapho analysis will be valuable only as you learn to depend on it. The only way to learn that you can rely on it is to use it whenever and wherever you have any dealings with people. As you use it you will find that you are getting facts that you know are true. Therefore, if this is true, you will get the truth from a handwriting where you may not want the truth. You may be convinced that the facts about the writer you have learned through your use of grapho analysis must be incorrect. How­ever, if you can get the truth from one handwriting and know from contact that it is true you must face the realization that an unpleasant truth you find in the writing of someone you respect or admire is still the truth.

Actually, no one is perfect. You are not. Your friends have weaknesses and you are not using grapho analysis to identify facts about people and then judge them. You are using your knowledge merely to get the truth. This gives you protection. In my years of research and practice I have had many experiences where the handwriting picture of the individual was not a nice one. However, we were on a friendly basis and there did not seem to be any reason for breaking up a friendship. As a result, the writer whose writing had given away secrets did not know that I had made the analysis, or that I had protected myself by knowing what to expect in their actions. Just because you find the handwriting of a friend shows he has the possibility of stealing from you does not mean that you need to drop the acquaintance. You merely protect yourself against his taking anything from you by not providing the temptation. You know the truth and the truth protects you. Use your knowledge every day. Depend on it as you find that you can.

Specimen O

EXAMINATION

1. . Check the two or more traits that are prominently revealed in the t-bars of this specimen.

a.Enthusiasm

b.Lack of purpose

c.Visionary

d.Conscious self-control

e.Strong purpose i/f. Sarcasm

2. . Does the writing show generosity?

Yes_ No________

3. ..Will the writer be likely to have strong prejudices?

Yes_ No___

4. . What is the basis for your conclusion?

a.Heavy t-bars

b.Slant of writing

c.Weight of writing

d.Frequent v-bases

5. . Does this writing show irritability?

Yes______ No___

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