ABSTRACT
The examination of disputed handwriting may well be the progenitor of forensic science. Historical references indicate that the practice of forgery and related frauds involving documents evolved almost as early as the development of writing. Historically, circumstantial evidence was the vehicle by which authorship was established for many cases. This was used in the absence of witnesses to the act of writing. The development of the manual typewriter, the advent of the ball point pen, the introduction of the electric typewriter, and the evolution of the electronic age significantly affected document examination. Since the 1980s, the widespread use of computer and digital technology has changed the field of document and handwriting examination in two fundamental ways: the analysis of computerized or electronic documents, and the computerized or digital equipment that document examiners use in analysis. Document examination may seek information about the origin of the document or evidence of the chronology of the events that subsequently occurred.
