Diary Handwriting

[Herlock Sholmes]

Possibly the most unusual character formation by both the Diary author and Anne is the letter "f". They both write it like the letter "b".

You can see a couple of examples in the Diary on page 3 ("fly" and "from") and the word "fact" on page 31.

This is Anne writing "from".

David its also noticeable that Anne forms the letter ‘f’ in two ways. With the loop at the front in ‘for’ and ‘from’ and with the loop behind in ‘certificate’ and in the word ‘of’ in ‘pride of place.’

I thought that it might have something to do with the position of the letter within the word but it appears totally random. Loop at the front in the word ‘reframing,’ but loop at the back on ‘certificate.’

[David Orsam]

David its also noticeable that Anne forms the letter ‘f’ in two ways. With the loop at the front in ‘for’ and ‘from’ and with the loop behind in ‘certificate’ and in the word ‘of’ in ‘pride of place.’

I thought that it might have something to do with the position of the letter within the word but it appears totally random. Loop at the front in the word ‘reframing,’ but loop at the back on ‘certificate.’

Yes, there is a little inconsistency there.

And perhaps it is me but, on a different issue, does Anne spell "reframing" as "refraiming" despite having spelt "framed" correctly earlier in the letter? If so, it does show that a spelling error can be made even when one knows how to spell a word.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Yes, there is a little inconsistency there.

And perhaps it is me but, on a different issue, does Anne spell "reframing" as "refraiming" despite having spelt "framed" correctly earlier in the letter? If so, it does show that a spelling error can be made even when one knows how to spell a word.

I did notice that one David. Definitely an added ‘i’ in refraiming.

Theres also a different ‘f’ in the ‘college of music.’

[David Orsam]

Theres also a different ‘f’ in the ‘college of music.’

Yes that "f" in "of" is quite interesting because of the loop at the top. It shows that sometimes she will put in a loop, sometimes not.

[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.

[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".

[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.

[David Orsam]

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

Yes, that is indeed another good comparison.

[David Orsam]

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

[Herlock Sholmes]

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

[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!

[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...

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

[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.

[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.