BOOK REVIEWS

CALLIGRAPHY NOT CACOGRAPHY

The Art and Science of Handwriting R Sassoon (Intellect Books, London, 1993, 192 pp, index, ISBN 1 87151 6 33 1: £19.95)

Rosemary Sassoon began her training in the art of producing beautiful letter forms and in the process of studying these more deeply began a series of analytical studies showing the diversity of letter forms and their production. She has written many books on the teaching of handwriting and is an independent consultant to individuals with problems in handwriting.

This book is a collection of papers covering educational. and medical aspects of her subject from the last ten years. Some of the papers are analytical in nature, dealing with such precise subjects as children's penholds and children's signatures. Other papers are more discursive, considering the impact of the National Curriculum and the psychology of Western calligraphy.

There is a considerable amount of interesting background material in the book for the forensic document examiner. Dr Sassoon herself is clear that her research approach is very different from that of the forensic document examiner, and that she is concerned not only with the analysis of the final result of handwriting on paper but also the actual process of writing. Much of her research has involved close observation of writers in various circumstances.

One of the most interesting sections of the book deals with the interpretation of handwriting models by different teachers and how they pass this variability on to their students. The discussion of the development of children's signatures also provides solid background evidence for the development of personal and identifiable characteristics in handwritings from an early age.

The language of the book is lively and enthusiastic but its format as a collection of papers on widely different aspects of the subject does not make for a cohesive read. There is also some conflict apparent between the artist and the scientist and the reader occasionally feels that the heavy statistical treatment of some observations is not justified by the final analysis.

On the whole an enjoyable book which provides an insight into the teaching and medical problems of handwriting which is the forensic document examiner's raw material.

LINGUISTICS AND LAW

Forensic Stylistics GR McMenamin (Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1993, 249 pp, ISBN 0 444 81544 9, Dfl280)

This book is reprinted from the journal Forensic Science International Volume 58, 1993. It is an overview of linguistic theories and methods of stylistic analysis. Much of the book is concerned with categorizing indicators of style and cross-referencing them to an extensive bibliography. In such a wide-ranging review only brief descriptions can be given of the various theories and methods and the book is certainly not a "how to" manual.

The author concentrates on the methods of "attributive stylistics" which are concerned with the attribution of authorship rather than those of "interpretive stylistics" which relate to understanding the work or personality of the writer. Methods of analysis are divided into "evaluative" and "objective" categories, only the latter being appropriate to forensic authorship issues. However, whilst observations of style indicators may themselves be objective the interpretation of their evidential significance (particularly where observations of different indicators are combined) remains subjective. The book contains little useful information about this crucial aspect. In addition, little practical guidance is given as to how to select appropriate stylistic indicators in particular cases or as to how reliable or discriminating they are.

The chapters dealing with the rules of evidence in each of the states of America and cases in which American courts have considered the admissibility of linguistic evidence may be of interest to lawyers but the chapter dealing with the semantic interpretation of the meaning of particular words in a contractual document seems out of place in this book. The arrangement of the chapters is somewhat illogical with case studies presented before style descriptors which are in turn presented before theory and methodology. The book has no index.

The stated primary aim of this book is to demonstrate the validity of the claim that "author-specific linguistic patterns are present in unique combinations in the style of every writer, and these underlying patferns can be objectively described and often measured by careful observation and analysis, making author identification possible in many ways". The book cannot in itself do this but it should serve as a useful source of reference for linguists, lawyers and forensic scientists interested in the application of stylistics to forensic problems.

RAH

AS THE FLINT BEARS FIRE

Chemical Analysis for the Arson Investigator and Attorney W Bertsch, G Holzer and CS Sellers (Huthig Buch Verlag, Heidelberg, 1993, 525 pp, index, ISBN 3 7785 1890 9; DM 198)

This book claims to b e the first monograph on chemical analysis for the arson investigator and aims to reach the scientist and non-scientist such as the loss-adjuster and the lawyer. A daunting task!

JFSS 1994; 34(2): 138-140