Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Digest of QD Notes
Digest of QD Notes
DEFINITION OF TERMS
1. DOCUMENT – refers any material containing marks, signs or symbols either visible, partially visible or invisible which
furnish or convey information, meaning or message to a person. It is any written statement by which a right is
established or an obligation is extinguished (People vs. Morena, CA, 38 O.G. 119). The term document came from the
Latin word “DOCUMENTUM”, which means “lesson, or example.” It was derived also from the French word “docere”,
which means to teach.
2. Questioned Document – a document in which contents appearing therein are questionable or seemed untrue, and are
contested either in whole or in part with respect to their authenticity, identity or origin.
3. Questioned Documents Examination – refers to the scientific process of investigating questioned documents. It
includes the scrutiny of the writing materials and instrument used, ink, handwriting and other marks that may affect the
authenticity of the document.
4. Holograph Document. a document completely written and signed by one person. In a number of jurisdictions, a
holographic will can be probated without anyone having witnessed its execution.
5. QUESTIONED DOCUMENT EXAMINER- is responsible in Handwriting Identification and is capable of more than just
questions of authorship limited only by their access to laboratory equipment. The old term for this was
HANDWRITING EXPERT.
6. FRAUD INVESTIGATOR - this focuses on the money trail and criminal intent of the person using the document being
questioned.
7. PAPER AND INK SPECIALIST- refers to a person who has expertise on date, type, source, and/or catalogue various
types of paper watermarks, ink, printing/copy/fax machines computer cartridges, etc. using chemical methods.
8. FORGERY SPECIALIST - a person who analyses altered, obliterated, changed, or doctored documents and photos
using infrared lighting, expensive spectography equipment, or digital enhancement techniques.
9. GRAPHO-ANALYST this is usually a psychology expert who assesses personality traits from handwriting samples,
also called GRAPHOLOGIST.
10. TYPEWRITING ANALYST- a person who is expert on the origin, make and model of typewriters and documents
produced from it.
11. HANDWRITING is the result of a very complicated series of acts treated as a whole, a combination of certain forms of
visible mental and muscular habits acquired by long painstaking effort. Handwriting is sometimes called
BRAINWRITING.
12. GRAPHOLOGY is the study and analysis of handwriting to assess the writer's traits or personality.
13. BIBLIOTICS is the study of documents and writing materials to determine their genuineness or authorship.
14. PENMANSHIP or CALLIGRAPHY – is the art and practice of attractive handwriting.
15. PALEOGRAPHY – is the study of ancient writing that is concerned with inscription on stone, clay tablets, bone, metal,
bamboo strips and other surfaces.
KINDS OF DOCUMENTS
a. PUBLIC DOCUMENTS – any instrument notarized by a notary public or competent public official with solemnities
required by law. (Cacnio vs. Baens, 5 Phil. 742)
b. OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS – any instrument issued by the government or its agents or its officers having the
authority to do so and the offices, which in accordance with their creation, they are authorized to issue and be
issued in the performance of their duties.(US vs. Asensi, supra)
c. PRIVATE DOCUMENTS – are deeds or instruments executed by a private person without the intervention of a
notary public or other persons legally authorized, and which proves same disposition or agreement as evidenced
or set forth therein. (US vs. Orera, 11 Phil 596)
d. COMMERCIAL DOCUMENTS – are documents defined and regulated by the Code of Commerce. (People vs. Co
Beng, CA., 40 O.G. 1913) or any other commercial law.
KINDS OF WRITING
a. SCRIPT or MANUSCRIPT WRITING - is any disconnected style of writing or junction broken. This is being
learned by school children who are just beginning to write. When a person expresses his/her own idea into
writing, it is called FUNCTIONAL WRITING.
b. CURSIVE or CONVENTIONAL WRITING - most parts are joined together by a junction connection. It is used by
most adults. This is used when script/manuscript writing is mastered. In QD examination, the word cursive means
RUNNING.
c. BLOCK or PRINTED WRITING is characterized by all capital or uppercase letters. This originates from the
Japanese.
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b. SYLLABARY SYSTEM – A system of writing which was developed by a Japanese named CHEROKEE
SEQUOYA that was first used in writing and recording his native language.
c. ALPHABETIC SYSTEM – This is the system of writing considered to be the most difficult to invent but very easy
to use. This was invented by the SEMETIC People at about 1500 BC, The PHOENICIANS developed the
alphabet further. The GREEK took it over from the Phoenicians, and the ROMANS borrowed it from the Greeks
and have it well-developed until it was spread out entire the world.
MOVEMENTS IN WRITING
a. FINGER MOVEMENT – the letters are made entirely by the action of the thumb, the index and middle fingers.
Such is found among children, illiterates and those to whom writing is an unfamiliar process.
b. HAND MOVEMENT – the letters are produced by the action of the whole hand with the wrist as the center of
action and with some actions of the fingers.
c. ARM MOVEMENT – the movement in writing is made by the hand and arm supported with the elbow of the center
of the lateral swing.
d. WHOLE ARM MOVEMENT – the action is produced by the entire arm without any rest. The source of motion is
the shoulder. Writing on a blackboard is a good example.
LEFT-HANDEDNESS
About 10% of all people are left-handed.
When a left-handed person begin to write manuscript, they may need special help from others.
A left-handed child should hold the pencil so that the fingers are at least 1 inch (2.5 Centimeters) from the
nib/point. This will give the child a better view of the paper while writing.
Ambidextrous – the term that refers the situation when a person is able to use the right and the left hand with
equal skills in writing. It came from the Latin word “dexter” which means “right-handed” and from its old Latin term
“ambidexter” which means “right-handed on both sides.”
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1. INITIAL STROKE – any beginning stroke of any letter. This is sometimes called BEARD as initial up stroke.
2. ENDING or TERMINAL STROKE - any ending stroke of a letter.
3. BODY - The main portion of the letter, minus the initial strokes, terminal strokes and diacritic in any letter.
4. DIACRITIC – refers to the "t" crossing and dots of the letter "i" & "j". An element added to complete certain
letters.It could also be a mark above or below a printed letter that indicates a change in the way it is to be
pronounced or stressed. Acute and grave accents, tilde(~), and cedillas (ç an ş) are examples of diacritics.
5. CACOGRAPHY – came from Greek word “kakkographia” which means “ugly writing.”
6. CALLIGRAPHY – came from Greek term kalligraphia which means “beautiful writing.” Kalligraphia came from
kallos="beauty" and graphein="write“.
7. FOOT - lower part which rest on the base line. The small letter "m" has three feet, and the small letter "n" has two
feet.
8. SHOULDER – the side out portion of the top curve of letters m, n, h.
9. HUMP – the top outside portion of letters m, n, & h the rounded outside or top of the bend stroke or curve in small
letter.
10. HABIT - any repeated elements or details, which may serve to individualize writing. It is how a certain letter is
written repeatedly.
11. HESITATION - the term applied to the irregular thickening of ink which is found when writing slows down or stop
while the pen take a stock of the position.
12. HOOK - It is a minute curve or a ankle which often occurs at the beginning or ending of strokes. The terminal
curves of the letters "a", "d", "n", "m", "p", "u", is the hook. In small letter "w" the initial curve is the hook.
13. LOOP - An oblong curve such as found on the small letter "f", "g", "l" and letters stroke "f". A loop may be blind
or open. A blind loop is usually the result of the ink having filled the open space.
14. EYELET or EYELOOP - a small loop or curve formed inside the letters. This may occur inside the oval of the
letters "a, d, o"; the small loop form by stroke that extend in divergent direction as in small letters.
15. COUNTER – the space which is enclosed or delimited that may be found in letters O, P, Q, D, C, F and other
letters.
16. BUCKLE or BUCKLE KNOT - a loop made as a flourish which is added to the letters, as in small letters "k, b & p
or in capital letters "A", "K.”
17. MAJUSCULE - a capitalized letter or letter which is printed in block form (uppercase letter).
18. MINUSCULE - a small letter (or lowercase letter).
19. PATCHING - retouching or going back over a defective portion of a written stroke. Careful patching is
common defect on forgeries.
20. RETRACING - Any part of a stroke which is superimposed or highlighted upon the original stroke. No defective is
found in the stroke but writer retraces only the strokes.
21. HIATUS or PEN JUMP - a gap occurring between a continuous stroke without lifting the pen. Such as occurrence
usually occurs due to speed; may be regarded also as a special form of pen lift distinguish in a ball gaps in that of
perceptible gaps and appear in the writing.
22. PEN LIFTING - an act of interruption of the writer in a stroke caused by removing or lifting the writing instrument
(pen) from the paper.
23. TREMOR - a writing weakness portrayed by irregular shaky strokes that is found in handwriting of a person.
24. RHYTHM – the harmonious appearance of characters, concerning its general style and appearance. Such style
or design of letters if found to be consistently used, there is rhythm in writing.
SIGNATURE
Refers to a person's name, usually in his or her own handwriting.
In law, signatures are put at the end of a legal instrument to show that it is valid and may serve as sign of
acknowledgment.
The most common and readily accepted form is the person's own handwriting, but a signature may be printed,
typewritten, stamped (should be counter-signed).
Illiterate persons often draw “X” or other symbol, attested by the signature of a witness.
TYPES OF SIGNATURES
1. FORMAL (a.k.a. CONVENTIONAL or COPYBOOK FORM) – done usually in writing the full name which is
readable.
2. INFORMAL (CURSORY) – usually done by writing the first name, surname or the initials in a signature.
3. Personalized – when the signature contains distinctive marks (personalized) purposely to easily identify fake
signature.
4. Semi-personalized – the writer has one or two distinctive designs to identify his/her own signature.
5. CARELESS SCRIBBLE – are signatures which cannot be read. It could be a symbol, composed lines or writings
that represents the person’s name or personality.
6. STAMPED SIGNATURE
7. THUMB PRINT
8. SACANNED SIGNATURE
A. FORGERY is a crime against public interest on making or producing an illegal copy of something so that it looks
genuine, usually for financial gain. Forgery applies to:
signing the name of a person who cannot write;
the unauthorized use of another's signature, by transferring of a genuine signature to a document for which it was
NOT intended, or
the fabrication of an entire document.
B. COUNTERFEITING is making or copying of something, especially money, in order to defraud or deceive another. An
offense for a person to make a counterfeit (fake) of currency note or coin intending that he or another shall pass or
tender it as genuine. Etymological definition: Counterfeiting was derived from the Latin word contra (against) and
facere (make or do).
C. FALSIFICATION is generally defined as the act of altering document (e.g. obliteration) with intent to deceive. It
includes the usual falsification of signature or entries in a document inorder to deceive another.
TERMS TO UNDERSTAND
1. OBLITERATION – is the act of erasing or obscuring some entries in a document leaving no trace. It came from
Latin obliterare (remove letters) and litera (letter).
2. SUBSTITUTION – is the act of putting some writings or entries in a document in place of another, or take the
place of another. It came from Latin word substituere (set up under).
3. INTERLINEATION – the act of inserting words or group of words, figures between lines in a text or document. It
came from the Latin term linea (insert line or text).
4. INTERCALATION – the act of inserting words or group of words and figures in a line or along the line in a text of a
document. It came from Latin calare (proclaim).
KINDS OF FORGERY
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1. SIMPLE FORGERY – the forger simply signs the name of other person without having knowledge on the design
or style of the genuine signature. He may sign the document in his own handwriting or disguised handwriting. This
is also known as FREEHAND FORGERY. The signature is called also as SPURIOUS which means false or fake.
2. SIMULATION – the process of copying or imitating a genuine signature.
3. INDIRECT TECHNIQUE - forger works first with pencil and afterwards covers the pencil strokes with ink.
4. TRACED FORGERY – an act of following the outline of a genuine signature with a writing instrument.
5. MECHANICAL PLACEMENT – is a method of placing signature into a document through the technology.
IMPORTANT TERMS:
1. ANARCHRONISM – refers to the situation where the forger has trouble in matching the paper, ink or writing
materials to the exact date it was supposed to have been written.
2. GUIDED SIGNATURE – refers to signatures executed while the writer’s hand on arm is steadied in any way.
Under the law, most jurisdiction such as a signature authenticates a legal document, provided it shows that the
writer requested assistance.
3. GENUINE SIGNATURE – refers to “ORIGINAL” signatures executed by the writer in any document as a sign of
acknowledgment.
4. RESTRAINED WRITING – refers to the style of writing where letters are compressed and lacks freedom between
letters.
5. LOOSE WRITING – refers to writings which unusually extended where letters are written to deliberately change
their handwriting. Also known as EXTENDED WRITING.
INDICATIONS OF FORGERY
1. EVIDENCE OF TRACING - can be detected through:
a.Microscopic Observation
b.Oblique Writing
c. Infrared Photography
d.Transmitted Light Examination
2. PEN PRESSURE – refers to the average force the pen is held against the paper. Forgers usually have greater
pressure when imitating signatures or handwritings.
3. HESITATIONS – evidenced by unnatural spread of ink in one part of a written character due to the stoppage of
the pen of the writer.
4. RETOUCHING or RETRACING – done by habitual retouching or superimposition of the lines of the stroke in a
character.
5. PATCHING – the act of going back over a defective written character.
6. ABSENCE OF SPONTANEITY – the lack of smoothness of letters
.
PARTS OF A PHILIPPINE PAPER BILL
1. MAINPRINT - Can be felt by our fingers
Genuine: The fingers will readily feel the main print on the front & back on fairly new notes. This is due to the
measurable thickness of the ink deposited on the paper which gives the prints an embossed effect.
3. WATERMARK - a hidden image of the national hero that is the same with the portrait appearing in the paper bill.
This is revealed when the paper money is subjected to ultraviolet light.
Genuine: The watermark underneath the security lacework on the right hand side of the note is the same on the
colored portrait.
Dandy roll is a wire cylinder used in paper manufacture to produce a watermark during the manufacture of the
paper.
5. COLORED FIBERS OR SECURITY FIBERS – These are colored red and blue which are scattered on the surface
of the paper (front and back) at random & can be readily picked off by means of any pointed instrument.
Genuine: It has typical banknote crackle when agitated by the fingers.
6. LACEWORK DESIGN – it is multi-colored that embellishes the portrait, value panels and vignette that is put in
vertical manner. It contains the amount of the paper bill that could be revealed more with ultraviolet light.
Genuine: The geometric pattern which looks like a delicate lacework along the border on both surfaces,
embellishing the portraits, value panel & vignettes are multicolored & composed of sharp lines which are
continuous & traceable even at the joints.
8. SERIAL NUMBERS – composed of 2 letters and 6 figures that appear in both sides on the front page of the paper
bill. Serial numbers can also be revealed by ultraviolet light.
Genuine: The letters and numbers are clearly printed. They have peculiar style, uniform in size & thickness.
Spacing of the numbers is uniform & alignment is even.
9. VIGNETTE – these are lines and dots that compose the portrait.
Genuine: The lines & dots are sharp. The varying color tone gives a bold look to the picture that makes it stands
out of the paper.
COINS – are metallic disks or small ingots, usually round, that are used as a medium of exchange and also
acquired and saved as a hobby. Coins have been in use for more than 2,600 years, and people have collected them for
nearly as long.
NUMISMATICS – is the technical name for the practice of collecting coins. Numismatics was derived from the Greek word
NOMISMA, meaning “COIN” or “CURRENCY.” Numismatics includes the study of coins, banknotes, medals, tokens, and
primitive forms of money. Governments and other official agencies issue billions of coins annually, and collecting coins is
a popular hobby around the world.
WRITING MATERIALS – Any material used primarily for writing or recording such as papers, cardboard, board papers,
Morocco paper, etc.
PAPER – These are sheets of interlaced fibers - usually cellulose fibers from plants, but sometimes from cloth rags or
other fibrous materials, that is formed by pulping the fibers and causing to felt, or mat, to form a solid surface.
MACHINE PAPERMAKING – A large papermaking machine at the Kraft paper mill in Missoula, Montana, converts wood
pulp into paper. The first successful papermaking machine was developed in the early 19th century and improvements on
newer machines continue to be developed.
KINDS OF PAPER
1. PAPYRUS – writing material used by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans that was made from the pith of
the stem of a water plant called Sedge ( also known as Cyperus Paperus). Papyrus came from the Latin word
Papuros, meaning “Papyrus Plant,” that reaches 12-25 FT in height.
2. PARCHMENT - a creamy or yellowish material made from dried and treated sheepskin, goatskin, or other animal
hide, formerly used for books and documents. This is widely used in Perganum City, Anatolia during the 2nd
century BC.
3. VELLUM – a paper which is high quality made from calfskin (fine leader), kidskin, or lambskin (wooly pelt of a
lamb). Codex – early form of book, consisting of bound sheafs of handwritten pages.
4. INTERNATIONAL PAPER SIZES
Paper is usually sold by the ream in sheets of standard sizes. A ream of paper usually contains 500 sheets,
Book paper and newsprint for flat-plate printing are sold in reams of 500 sheets and in perfect reams of
516 sheets. The most common book-paper size is OCTAVO (112 by 168 cm/44 by 66 in).
Newsprint for rotary-press printing comes in rolls of varying sizes; a typical roll of newsprint, as used by
large metropolitan newspapers in the United States, is 168 cm (66 in) wide and 7,925 m (26,000 ft) long, and
weighs about 725 kg (1,600 lb).
HISTORY OF PAPER
1. AD 105 - CAI LUN (also spelled as Ts’ai Lun) – the inventor of paper, a Chinese Court Official of China during the
time of Emperor Ho Ti. The art of paper making was kept by the Chinese for 500 years.
2. AD 610 - The Buddhist Monks spread the art of papermaking to Japan. It was the Japanese people who invented
Block Printing.
3. AD 751 - Chinese Vs Arab Armies War. The Chinese were defeated and many of them were taken as prisoners.
Some of the prisoners bargained for their release in a condition that they will teach the Arabs the Secrets of paper
making.
4. AD 1009-1244 - The first Paper Mill was built by the Arabs in Xativa, Spain. It took 400 years for paper to traverse
Europe.
5. AD 1338-1470 - French Monks began producing paper used in the production of holy texts.
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6. AD 1411 - A flour mill was converted to Paper Mill in Germany.
7. AD 1588 – England also built its own Paper Mill and produced papers for its citizens.
8. AD 1680 –The first Paper Mill was also built in Culhuacan, Mexico.
9. AD 1690 – William Rittenhouse, a German immigrant to North America founded the first Paper Mill in North
America where the first American Paper Makers were trained.
10. AD 1719 – Rene Antoine Ferchault de Reaumur, after study, he suggested that paper could be made from wood
or trees.
11. AD 1798 – Nicholas Robert invented the first Paper Making Machine.
12. Robert's Machine was improved by the Fourdrinier Bothers: Henry Fourdrinier and Sealy Fourdrinier, who in 1803
produced the first of the machines that bear their name.
13. AD 1850 – Friedrich Gottlob Keller, a German who devised the method of Paper Making from Wood Pulp,
however, it was of poor quality.
14. AD 1852 – Hugh Burgess, an Englishman who perfected the use of wood pulp by digesting the wood with
chemicals.
15. AD 1867 – C.B. Tilghman, an American Chemist, improved the process of paper making process from wood by
using Sulfites.
16. AD 1879 – C.F. Dahl, a Swede finally perfected the use of wood in the production of paper by adding another
chemical known as Sulfate.
17. 1880 – Hectograph was invented for copying manuscript by transfering it into a layer of gelatin coated with
glycerin.
18. AD 1883 – Charles Stillwell, invented a machine in making brown paper for groceries in Philadelphia.
19. 1895 – Carbon Paper became common when typewriter was introduced.
20. 1980 - Fax (Facsimile) Machine was invented and became available to many offices.
21. 1911 - Photostat was introduced capable of making copies of photographic documents.
22. 1938 - Chester Carison invented the Xerox Machine.
WRITING MATERIALS
1. PEN – general term for ink-refilled writing materials.
2. BALL PEN – came from the Latin term “Penna” meaning feather. This refers to a writing instrument with ball
rotating at its nib purposely to equally spread its ink to the writing material.
3. FOUNTAIN PEN – popularly called today as “Sign pen.” This kind of pen usually has ink reservoir that produces
more ink as compared to ordinary pens.
4. FIBER TIP PEN – refers also to what is popularly called as “Pentel Pen.” This also contains ink reservoir, where
ink come from and passes to the synthesized fibers before it reaches the writing material.
5. PENCIL – a writing material that has lead that is composed of graphite and clay and located in the central part.
The lead is covered by kaolin that is made up usually from wood mixed with chemicals to serve as binder.
6. LIQUID LEAD PENCIL – a ball point pencil with an erasable graphite ink introduced in 1955 but phased out during
the early 1960s.
7. QUILL PEN - writing instrument made from a feather with a sharpened tip, which is dipped in ink. Used by Jose
Rizal in writing “El Filibusterismo” and “Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not).”
8. STYLOGRAPHIC PEN – a kind of pen used by artist and draftsmen.
9. REYNOLDS PEN – an invention of Milton Reynolds in 1945 in New York, USA.
10. METAL PEN, GLASS PEN, PEN KNIFE – kinds of pen according to flourishing designs during manufacture.
DIFFERENT INKS
1. Carbon ink – is also known as Indian Ink and Chinese Ink which is known as the oldest form of ink.
2. Log-wood Inks - They were made from an aqueous extract of logwood chips and potassium chromate type in
1848.
3. Iron Gallotanate Inks – the popular version of this is the “blue and black ink,” which is the greatest number of
commercial ink today. This kind of ink turns to brown after sometime due to its corrosive properties in the ink.
4. Nigrosine Ink – also known as Aniline, Indulin, or Black aniline. This is a colored ink that is composed of
synthethic dyes. Discovered by the Perkins in 1885 and first used by the Britons in 1878.
5. Copperas Ink – an aqueous decoction of an iron salt, hydrated with Ferrous Sulfate.
6. Dyestuff Inks - composed of aqueous solutions of synthetic dyestuffs, to which a preservative and a flux are
added.
7. Alkaline Writing Inks - These are quick drying inks which possess a ph from 9 to about 11.
8. Super chrome inks - were already obtainable since 1950. The ink that contains phthalocyanine used in the
determination of the age of a document.
9. Skrip Ink - is manufactured by W.A. Chaffer Pen Company since 1955. It contains a substance which is
colorless in visible light and has a strong affinity for the fibers of the paper, and yet is not bleached by hypochlorite
ink eradicators or washed out by soaking on water.
10. Stamp Pad Inks - Made with the acid of substances such as glycerol, glycol, acetin or benzyl alcohol and water.
Airline dyes are added as coloring matter. For quick drying stamp pad inks, more volatile organic solvents are
used as acetone, ethanol, etc.
11. Typewriter Ribbon Inks - These inks are usually composed of a blend of aniline dyes, carbon black and oil such
as olein or castor oil. The two-tone ribbons however contain no dyes, but pigments suspended in oil base.
12. Canceling Inks - These inks often contain carbon and this fact should be borne in mind when it is required to
decipher faint cancellation marks on a postage stamp and wrappers.
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13. HENRY STEVEN – he patented the blue-black ink which is widely used this century.
TYPEWRITER - A machine designed to print or impress type characters on paper, as a speedier and more legible
substitute for handwriting. Since the introduction of practical typewriters in the 1870s, the machines have come into
universal use and have played an important part in the development of modern business and in the great dissemination of
written and printed information that has characterized the 20th century.
EARLY TYPEWRITERS
1. The first recorded attempt to produce a writing machine was made by the British inventor Henry Mill, who
obtained a British patent by Majesty Queen Anne on January 7, 1714.
2. The next patent issued for a typewriter was granted to the American inventor William Austin Burt of Detroit,
Michigan in 1829 for a machine with type arranged on a semicircular wheel.
3. In 1833 a French patent was given to the French inventor Xavier Progin for a machine that embodied for the first
time one of the principles employed in modern typewriters: the use for each letter or symbol of separate typebars,
actuated by separate lever keys.
CHRISTOPHER LATHAM SHOLES – Developed the Sholes and Glidden Typewriter on June 23, 1867 that only
impress uppercase letters. He is credited as the US inventor of typewriter. His typewriters were developed by other
inventors.
CHARLES GROVER THURBER – an American Inventor Made use of the device used for moving the paper between
letters and between lines on almost all modern typewriters is a cylindrical platen, against which the paper is held
firmly. The platen moves horizontally to produce the spacing between lines.
MARK TWAIN – was the first author to publish a novel in a typed form. The title was “Life at Mississippi” in 1883.
Albert S. Osborn – An American and arguably the most influential document examiner published his book entitled
“Questioned Document.” He is considered as the father of handwriting examination.
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