Diary Handwriting

[Scott Nelson]

Did you read my introductory post to the handwriting images in #34 Scott?

Yes, I read it, thank you. But I asked if anybody knew if Anne Graham was a left-handed writer, not ambidextrous.

[rjpalmer]

This could account for a different direction in the slope of such handwriting.

It makes sense. I don't have time to post an example at the moment, but there are many places in the Diary where the slant (or more correctly, the 'slope') seems inconsistent. The idea of a lefty writing with their right-hand but not quite pulling it off is definitely worth considering.

[David Orsam]

Is it safe to suggest that Anne Graham is a left-handed writer?

The Diary writing appears to be written by a right-handed person.

Did you read my introductory post to the handwriting images in #34 Scott?

I'll repost below if it makes it easier:

This is from "Disguised Handwriting" by John J. Harris in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Volume 43, Issue 5, 1953:

"A few persons are ambidextrous and, therefore, have quite a talent for disguising handwriting."

This is from "Scientific Examination of Questioned Documents", Second Edition by Jan Seaman Kelly Brian S. Lindblom (eds), 2006:

"Disguise can be accomplished by writing with the hand opposite to that which is habitually used. This can be a very effective disguise as long as standards of wrong-handed writing are not available. Opposite-hand writing can sometimes be inferred from its relatively low degree of writing skill. Once a suspect is located, steps should be taken to obtain writings executed with both hands wherever possible. A small group of people can write with the same ease and skill using either hand. These ambidextrous writers have practiced and developed their writing to such a degree that writings produced by left and right hands do not contain features associated with disguise. In spite of a developed skill to write with both hands, writing done with the right hand differs in many ways from writing done with the left."

So if we are comparing the Diary handwriting with the handwriting of any individual we need to consider whether they might have attempted to disguise their handwriting by using their "other" hand. This could account for a different direction in the slope of such handwriting.

I understand that some 1% of the population is ambidextrous.

[David Orsam]

Thanks for these comparisons. It is intriguing, Anne's handwriting does bear a suspicious similarity to the diary. Almost what it might look like after an attempt to disguise her style slightly.

The question of course is, how likely is this so by chance alone, and how many others could be said to bear such a resemblance. True investigation would need dozens if not hundreds of samples from everyone associated with the diary. And, a clear indicator that Anne's is only one to consistently display troubling similarities.

Absolutely. One can't sensibly conclude from the similarities I've posted that Anne was the Diary's author. This is what I've been trying to stress from the start. It's possible that Anne's handwriting comes from a basic template which is and has been taught and shared by a lot of people, including the Diary author. The only point I want to make from this exercise is that it is quite a coincidence that the one person identified by Mike Barrett (in an affidavit) as the author of the Diary does happen to share a number of characteristics in her handwriting compared with the Diary author. One might say it is a coincidence which easily matches the coincidence of electrical work being carried out in Battlecrease House on the day that Mike contacted Doreen Montgomery's agency.

[rjpalmer]

Hi Scott. I was sitting here wondering the same thing. Look again at post #54. I'm not worried about the loops, etc. They can be changed. Just look at the overall appearance of the writing, it's "style."

ALL of Anne's vertical downstrokes...L, I, T, K, B, etc...are slanted downward radically to the right, making the whole page look as if it is leaning backwards in a strong headwind:

\ \ \ \ \ \ \
\ \ \ \ \ \ \

I don't know; I'm asking. Even if a person altered how they formed individual loops, etc., wouldn't they retain SOME of this tendency to slant?

Like you, I can see no similar slant in the Maybrick Diary. Most of it is very upright and vertical, though at times the penman actually slants his/her handwriting slightly in the other direction: / / / /.

It could be a left-hand vs. right-hand thing, possibly. Maybe even probably.

[Scott Nelson]

Well, looking at Anne Graham's handwriting objectively, the first thing I notice is that she has one hell of a dramatic slant to the left. Why is she writing at such an extreme angle?

Is it safe to suggest that Anne Graham is a left-handed writer?

The Diary writing appears to be written by a right-handed person.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Here's another example for you all to consider. It's an extract from the famous "head nor tale off" letter...

Two very distinctly different versions of a lower case ‘s’ on display here.

[peg&pie]

Thanks for these comparisons. It is intriguing, Anne's handwriting does bear a suspicious similarity to the diary. Almost what it might look like after an attempt to disguise her style slightly.

The question of course is, how likely is this so by chance alone, and how many others could be said to bear such a resemblance. True investigation would need dozens if not hundreds of samples from everyone associated with the diary. And, a clear indicator that Anne's is only one to consistently display troubling similarities.

Trouble is, a competent and convincing argument can be made in all facets of ripperology with the dearth of reliable evidence, as we all know.

What we do know is that both Anne and Mike are liars, changing their stories to suit the ongoing investigations at the time.

That such a document could be unveiled by such unreliable characters is beyond bad luck and believability.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Here's another example for you all to consider. It's an extract from the famous "head nor tale off" letter...

My first comment is “why did i have to study ‘The Tempest’ when Anne’s daughter got ‘The Hobbit.’ Not fair!

[Herlock Sholmes]

The ‘y’ in royal compared with the one at the end of ‘neatly’ is also a contrast. (In the first letter)

[David Orsam]

Here's another example for you all to consider. It's an extract from the famous "head nor tale off" letter...

[David Orsam]

There's a perhaps clearer example of the capital "M" on p49.

Yes, that is indeed another good comparison.

[rjpalmer]

Well, looking at Anne Graham's handwriting objectively, the first thing I notice is that she has one hell of a dramatic slant to the left. Why is she writing at such an extreme angle? It's like the sheet of paper is on a slow moving treadmill. By the time I was done reading it I felt like I was about to fall out of the left side my chair.

It's also a bit unfortunate that her letter uses ruled paper, and the Maybrick Diary doesn't.

[Sam Flynn]

Anne has a fairly unusual way of writing the "M" in "Mike".

To me, it looks like a little "n" next to a very large "n"

The Diary author does something similar when writing the name "Michael" on pages 2 and 10 of the Diary.

There's a perhaps clearer example of the capital "M" on p49.

Whilst on p49 I note that the word "lucky" appears, and twice on p50, spelt correctly each time. However, closing the first block of text on p8, we appear to have "I feel luckey".

[Herlock Sholmes]

My handwriting is reasonably neat. Women often say ‘dont you have neat writing for a man!’ Id say that my handwriting is quite average so its quite surprising to see the level of variation and inconsistancy in Anne’s writing and also ‘Jack’s.’

External infuences have an effect of course but you wouldn’t have thought that this would have been the case within the same sentence or small group of sentences.