An interesting study is the handwriting of authors, as it indicates to a greater or less degree their personal temperaments.

Longfellow wrote a bold, open back-hand, which was the delight of printers, says the Scientific American.  Joaquin Miller wrote such a bad hand that he often becomes puzzled over his own work, and the printer sings the praises of the inventor of the typewriter.

Charlotte Bronte’s writing seemed to have been traced with a cambric needle, and Thackeray’s writing, while marvelously neat and precise, was so small that the best of eyes were needed to read it.  Likewise the writing of Captain Marryatt was so microscopic that when he was interrupted in his labors he was obliged to mark the place where he left off by sticking a pin in the paper.

Napoleon’s was worse than illegible, and it is said that his letters from Germany to the Empress Josephine were at first thought to be rough maps of the seat of war.

Carlyle wrote a patient, crabbed and oddly emphasized hand.  The penmanship of Bryant was aggressive, well formed and decidedly pleasing to the eye; while the chirography of Scott, Hunt, Moore, and Gray was smooth and easy to read but did not express distinct individuality.

Byron’s handwriting was nothing more than a scrawl.  His additions to proofs frequently exceeded in volume the original copy, and in one of his poems, which contained in the original only four hundred lines, one thousand were added in the proofs.

The writing of Dickens was minute, and he had a habit of writing with blue ink on blue paper.  Frequent erasures and interlineations made his copy a burden to his publishers.

Horace Greeley could not decipher his own writing after it got cold.

Mark Twain writes a cramped, plain hand, and writes with haste.

For an evening entertainment when a few friends happen to drop in ask each one to write any quotation that pops into his head and carefully sign his name in full.  Pen and ink are better than pencil, but the latter will answer in a pinch.  If the writing is dark this shows a leaning toward athletics and a love for outdoor life and sports.  If the letters are slender and faint the writer is reserved and rarely shows emotion or becomes confidential.  Sloping letters indicate a very sensitive disposition, whereas those that are straight up and down evince ability to face the world and throw off the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.”

Curls and loops are out of fashion nowadays, but any inclination to ornate penmanship is a sure indication of a leaning toward the romantic and sentimental, while the least desire to shade a letter shows imagination and a tendency to idealize common things.  If the same letter is formed differently by the same person this shows love of change.  Long loops or endings to the letters indicate that the writer “wears his heart upon his sleeve,” or in other words, is trusting, non-secretive, and very fond of company.