Caligraphy considered as affording an exhibition of character : read at the meeting of the Psychological Society of Great Britain, November 26th, 1875 / by George Harris.

  • Harris, George, 1809-1890.
Date:
[1875]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Caligraphy considered as affording an exhibition of character : read at the meeting of the Psychological Society of Great Britain, November 26th, 1875 / by George Harris. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    romance. In Charles Dickens’s hand there is none of the refinement evinced by Lord Lytton’s. It is more the hand of a man of middle rank. The writing is free and clear, with a certain degree of carelessness in the construction of the letters. The words vary extensively, but the variation is singularly uniform. Frankness and sincerity are pro- minent traits in his caligraphy. In the remarks which I have made, and in the specimens of caligraphy which I have exhibited before you, I have endeavoured as far as practical, in the very short space allowed, to enunciate some general principles which may serve as a guide in the discernment of character by this means. As I said before, it appears to me that moral rather than intellectual character is that which is generally indicated; although some traits in the writing undoubtedly serve to display also the mental endowments and habits. The study is a difficult one as regards obtaining skill on which you can safely rely. And it is undoubtedly a very dangerous one on which to rely, when you have not sufficient data whereon to proceed. The disguises by which we are liable to be misled are many and deep laid; and the greater the need of disguise, the more artful and insiduous .will pro- bably be the disguises. How often is a dishonest character concealed under an apparently frank, and, perhaps, bluster- ing manner ; as a bold handwriting may be thought to indicate openness, and straight forward dealing, in the writer. Some characters are natural, and appear as they really are ; others are assumed, and appear, not as they are, but as they wish to be thought. So it is with their caligraphy also. Some persons appear always in feigned characters, others are always real. In most cases I suspect that the character is mixed, part feigned and part real. Cor- respondent with this is their caligraphy also. Napoleon, and Talleyrand, and Bolingbroke, were far more feigned [120]