Editing Graphology (section)

== History ==
In 1991, [[Jean-Charles Gille|Jean-Charles Gille-Maisani]] stated that [[Juan Huarte de San Juan]]'s 1575 {{lang|es|Examen de ingenios para las ciencias}} was the first book on handwriting analysis.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gille-Maisani |first= Jean-Charles |year=1991 |title=Psicología de la Escritura |trans-title=Psychology of Handwriting) |location=Barcelona |publisher=Herder|isbn=978-84-254-1705-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Huarte |first=Juan |title=Examen de ingenios para las ciencias |trans-title=Examination of inventions for the sciences |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q6v4rNcFzqUC |year=1846 |publisher=Imprenta R. Campuzano |location=Madrid |language=es |orig-year=1575}}</ref>  In American graphology, [[Camillo Baldi]]'s {{lang|it|Trattato come da una lettera missiva si conoscano la natura e qualità dello scrittore}} from 1622 is considered to be the first book.<ref name="ROMAN1952"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Baldi |first=Camillo |author-link=Camillo Baldi |title=Trattato come da una lettera missiva si conoscano la natura e qualità dello scrittore |trans-title=Treatise on from a missive letter knowing the nature and quality of the writer |url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k8597375 |location=Carpi |publisher=Girolamo Vaschieri |year=1622 |language=it |access-date=2016-11-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161121092829/http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k8597375 |archive-date=2016-11-21 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{clarification needed|date=January 2024}}

Around 1830, [[Jean-Hippolyte Michon]] became interested in handwriting analysis. He published his findings<ref>{{Citation
  | last = Michon
  | first = Jean-Hippolyte
  | title = Le mystéres de l'écriture
  | place = Paris
  | year = 1872
  }}</ref><ref>{{Citation
  | last = Michon
  | first = Jean-Hippolyte
  | title = Systéme de graphologie
  | place = Paris
  | year = 1875
  }}</ref> shortly after founding ''Société Graphologique'' in 1871. The most prominent of his disciples was [[Jules Crépieux-Jamin]], who rapidly published a series of books<ref>{{Citation
  | last = Crépieux-Jamin
  | first = Jules
  | title = Traité pratique de graphologie, étude du caractère de l'homme d'après son écriture
  | place = Paris
  }}</ref><ref>{{Citation
  | last = Crépieux-Jamin
  | first = Jules
  | title = L'écriture et le caractère
  | place = Paris
  | publisher = 1888
  }}</ref> that were soon published in other languages.<ref>{{Citation
  | last = Crépieux-Jamin
  | first = Jules
  | title = Handwriting and Expression
  | place = London
  | publisher = 1892
  | edition = First English Translation
  }}</ref><ref>{{Citation
  | last = Crépieux-Jamin
  | first = Jules
  | title = Praktisches Lehrbuch der Graphologie
  | place = Leipzig
  | publisher = List
  | year = 1906
  | edition = Fifth German
  }}</ref> Starting from Michon's integrative approach, Crépieux-Jamin founded a holistic approach to graphology.

[[Alfred Binet]] was convinced to conduct research into graphology from 1893 to 1907. He called it "the science of the future" despite rejection of his results by graphologists.

French psychiatrist Joseph Rogues De Fursac combined graphology and psychiatry in the 1905 book {{lang|fr|Les ecrits et les dessins dans les maladies mentales et nerveuses}}.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fursac |first=Joseph Rogues de |url=https://www.andrebreton.fr/en/work/56600100605411 |title=Les écrits et les dessins dans les maladies nerveuses et mentales |date=1905 |publisher=Masson, Paris |edition=first publication}}</ref>

After [[World War&nbsp;I]], interest in graphology continued to spread in Europe and the United States. In Germany during the 1920s, [[Ludwig Klages]] founded and published his findings in {{lang|de|Zeitschrift für Menschenkunde}} (''Journal for the Study of Mankind''). His major contribution to the field can be found in {{lang|de|Handschrift und Charakter}}.<ref>{{Citation
  | last = Klages
  | first = Ludwig
  | author-link = Ludwig Klages
  | title = Handschrift und Charakter
  | publisher = 1916
  }}</ref><ref>{{Citation
  | last = Klages
  | first = Ludwig
  | author-link = Ludwig Klages
  | title = Handschrift und Charakter: gemeinverständlicher Abriss der graphologischen Technik
  | place = Barth
  | year = 1940
  | edition = 17th
  | page = 256
  }}</ref>

Thea Stein Lewinson and J. Zubin modified Klage's ideas, based upon their experience working for the U.S. government, publishing their method in 1942.<ref>{{Citation
  | last1 = Lewinson
  | first1 = Thea Stein
  | last2 = Zubin
  | first2 = J
  | title = Handwriting analysis; a series of scales for evaluating the dynamic aspects of handwriting
  | place = New York
  | publisher = King's Crown Press
  | year = 1942
  | edition = 1st
  | pages = xiii, 147
  }}</ref>

In 1929, Milton Bunker founded The American Grapho Analysis Society teaching graphoanalysis. This organization and its system split the American graphology world in two. Students had to choose between graphoanalysis or holistic graphology. While hard data is lacking, anecdotal accounts indicate that 10% of the members of International Graphoanalysis Society (IGAS) were expelled between 1970 and 1980.<ref>{{Citation| last = Chimera| first = Mary Ann| journal = Impact Magazine| issue = 5| postscript = .}}{{page needed|date=September 2020}}</ref>

Regarding a proposed correlation between biological sex and handwriting style, a paper published by James Hartley in 1989 concluded that there was some evidence in support of this hypothesis.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hartley |first1=James |title=Sex Differences in Handwriting: a comment on Spear |journal=British Educational Research Journal |date=January 1991 |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=141–145 |doi=10.1080/0141192910170204 }}</ref>

Rowan Bayne, a British psychologist who has written several studies on graphology, summarized his view of the appeal of graphology: "[I]t's very seductive because at a very crude level someone who is neat and well behaved tends to have neat handwriting", adding that the practice is "useless... absolutely hopeless".<ref name="duff">{{cite news| last = Duffy| first = Jonathan| author2 = Giles Wilson| title = Writing wrongs| publisher = BBC News Magazine| date = 2005-02-01| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4223445.stm| access-date = 2008-06-24| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120224120703/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4223445.stm| archive-date = 2012-02-24| url-status = live}}</ref> The [[British Psychological Society]] ranks graphology alongside [[astrology]], giving them both "zero validity".<ref name="duff"/>

Graphology was also dismissed as a pseudoscience by the skeptic [[James Randi]] in 1991.<ref>{{youTube|NeYkOHQ683k|James Randi and a Graphologist}}</ref>

In his May 21, 2013 [[Brian Dunning (author)#Skeptoid podcasts|Skeptoid podcast]] episode titled "All About Graphology", [[Skeptical movement|scientific skeptic]] author [[Brian Dunning (author)|Brian Dunning]] reports:<ref name= Dunning /><blockquote>In his book ''The Write Stuff'', Barry Beyerstein summarized the work of Geoffrey Dean, who performed probably the most extensive literature survey of graphology ever done. Dean did a meta-analysis on some 200 studies:

Dean showed that graphologists have unequivocally failed to demonstrate any validity or reliability of their art for predicting work performance, aptitudes, or personality. Graphology thus fails according to the standards which a genuine psychological test must pass before it can ethically be released for use on the public.

Dean found that no particular school of graphology fared better than any other. In fact, no graphologist of any kind was able to show reliably better performance than untrained amateurs making guesses from the same materials. In the vast majority of studies, neither group exceeded chance expectancy.</blockquote>

Dunning concludes:<ref name = Dunning/><blockquote>Other divining techniques like [[iridology]], [[phrenology]], [[palmistry]], and [[astrology]] also have differing schools of thought, require years of training, offer expensive certifications, and fail just as soundly when put to a [[Scientific method|scientific controlled test]]. Handwriting analysis does have its plausible-sounding separation from those other techniques though, and that's the whole "handwriting is brainwriting" idea — traits from the brain will be manifested in the way that it controls the muscles of the hand. Unfortunately, this is just as unscientific as the others. No amount of sciencey sounding language can make up for a technique failing when put to a scientifically controlled test.</blockquote>