Handwriting: A History

This is known as the Lindbergh kidnapping of 1932. Where someone wrote 14 ransom notes to a family. When the police got a hold on these letters they had no trouble identifying them as all the same person, but had a great deal of trouble identifying the culprit: Richard Bruno Hauptmann. They figured out the kidnapper's identity by using techniques that Albert Osborn discovered in 1910. Osborn recognized the significance of handwriting analysis, and he devised a means and techniques for matching them. Many of the techniques still used today. The technique used to determine the culprit in this case was to look for the differences. Anyone can look at the similarities with a fair amount of accuracy but to look at the differences, especially the ones that matter, is not hard and often requires years of training and practice. Handwriting changes over they years. Also, each time you write a word, it will look different (at least some parts will). The letter's will change depending on where they are placed in the word/sentence. The trick is, the one that Osborn discovered, is what letters don't change; better yet, what parts of the word/letter don't change.