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Southern Star, v. 1, issue 1, 1941

Page 11

      The Handwriting on the Hall 

             by Joseph Gilbert 

   (Author's note: There are few real sciences which have so bad a reputation as graphology. It is listed among the occult sciences in book catalogues, and is, likewise, classified with astrology, numerology, and other such things in the minds of most intelligent people who have never had cause to think of it otherwise. 

   Unfortunately this ill repute is one that is rather well justified by the past history of graphology. There was a period in which graphology was quite frankly presented as an art in which highly questionable results were obtained by pure intuition. The mystic chant mumblers of this school made wholly unwarranted claims which gave the science of handwriting analysis much the same malador of fortune-telling, spiritualism and magic, thus hindering graphology much as the old alchemist hindered the progress of chemistry in bygone days, with this important difference -- the old alchemists helped chemistry along by discovering a number of basic principles in the science; the charlatans of graphology have done nothing for the advancement of the art they professed to practice; their mumbo-jumbo has been nothing but destructive.

   Nor has the bull in graphology existed only in the past. There are books continually being written which present it in an entirely false light; the intuitive or carnival method still flourishes at all fairs and circuses; and even in fandom such distorted articles as "What Foos These Stfans Be" in the last issue of Fantasy Digest have served to create the wrong impression of handwriting analysis. 

   In the last decade, however, the true science of graphology has become just that -- a science. This is due to the work of Klages, Saudek, and especially Nock Sylvus, who based his entire system of graphology on the Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler. The Sylvus system is as truly scientific as any new science can be. It is limited, but it is scientific. Being a science, it makes no false claims for itself. There are things it cannot do. But it is as far as it goes, and the fact cannot be too strongly emphasized, a science. Gradually, psychologists are beginning to recognize that fact, and graphology is being used by more and more of them all the time, just as it already is used in the Community Church Mental Hygiene Clinic in New York and in other institutions. 

   So. In the hands of an expert the science of graphology is an amazingly accurate art. You may not believe that, and such is your privilege. I do. I have seen the results check a hundred per cent accurate too many times to believe otherwise. Yet -- I am not an expert and make no pretense of being. I am an amateur, and amateurs are rather noted for their astonishing proficiency in the gentle art of bungling. As a result the following analyses and the analyses in this department to follow are presented purely as entertainment and not as dead-sound fact. If you'll approach this department with an open mind we think that the results are likely to surprise you. If they do, or if you derive some mild enjoyment from them, then my purpose has been adequately served.)


[Signature]
     [Arthur?] Tucker

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The Handwriting on the Hall by Joseph Gilbert (Author's note: There are few real sciences which have so bad a reputation as graphology. It is listed among the occult sciences in book catalogues, and is, likewise, classified with astrology, numerology, and other such things in the minds of most intelligent people who have never had cause to think of it otherwise. Unfortunately this ill repute is one that is rather well justified by the past history of graphology. There was a period in which graphology was quite frankly presented as an art in which highly questionable results were obtained by pure intuition. The mystic chant mumblers of this school made wholly unwarranted claims which gave the science of handwriting analysis much the same malador of fortune-telling, spiritualism and magic, thus hindering graphology much as the old alchemist hindered the progress of chemistry in bygone days, with this important difference -- the old alchemists helped chemistry along by discovering a number of basic principles in the science; the charlatans of graphology have done nothing for the advancement of the art they professed to practice; their mumbo-jumbo has been nothing but destructive. Nor has the bull in graphology existed only in the past. There are books continually being written which present it in an entirely false light; the intuitive or carnival method still flourishes at all fairs and circuses; and even in fandom such distorted articles as "What Foos These Stfans Be" in the last issue of Fantasy Digest have served to create the wrong impression of handwriting analysis. In the last decade, however, the true science of graphology has become just that -- a science. This is due to the work of Klages, Saudek, and especially Nock Sylvus, who based his entire system of graphology on the Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler. The Sylvus system is as truly scientific as any new science can be. It is limited, but it is scientific. Being a science, it makes no false claims for itself. There are things it cannot do. But it is as far as it goes, and the fact cannot be too strongly emphasized, a science. Gradually, psychologists are beginning to recognize that fact, and graphology is being used by more and more of them all the time, just as it already is used in the Community Church Mental Hygiene Clinic in New York and in other institutions. So. In the hands of an expert the science of graphology is an amazingly accurate art. You may not believe that, and such is your privilege. I do. I have seen the results check a hundred per cent accurate too many times to believe otherwise. Yet -- I am not an expert and make no pretense of being. I am an amateur, and amateurs are rather noted for their astonishing proficiency in the gentle art of bungling. As a result the following analyses and the analyses in this department to follow are presented purely as entertainment and not as dead-sound fact. If you'll approach this department with an open mind we think that the results are likely to surprise you. If they do, or if you derive some mild enjoyment from them, then my purpose has been adequately served.) [Signature] [Arthur?] Tucker