TYPEWRITER AND TYPEWRITING

IDENTIFICATION

TYPEWRITER 

 -it is a writing machine with a keyboard for reproducing letters, figures, symbols, and other resembling printed ones; a
machine that can reproduce printed characters on paper or that can produce printed letters and figures on paper; 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, 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.

Typewriting Examination Objectives

1. To identify the manufacturer and model of the typewriter.

2. To identify a specific typewriter.
3. To prove that changes in the document were with a typewriter other than the one used to type the original document.
4. To establish a limit that can be placed on the age of a document by showing that the machine was not manufactured before a
certain year.
Typewriting Examination

1. The design, size, and proportions of each of the characteristics

2. The relation of each character as printed to adjacent characters, or its vertical and horizontal alignment.
3. The vertical position of the character in relation to the line of writing, that is, its perpendicular, or slants to the left or right.
4. The comparative weight of impression of the upper, lower, right or left sides of each character, or as the machine adjusts
describe it, hoe the type stands “on the feet” or “off its feet”.
5. The condition of the type faces of all the letters and characters and the presence of defects, bruises or scars due to wear or to
accidents.
 

CLASSIFICATIONS OF TYPEWRITER AS TO TYPEFACE

PICA – a type of typewriter that may contain at least 10 characters in an inch. It has bigger characters as compared to elite
typewriters.

ELITE – another type of typewriter in which in a horizontal inch may contain atleast 12 characters.

TERMS ON TYPEWRITING IDENTIFICATION

1. ALIGNMENT DEFECT – the presence of twisted letters, and horizontal and vertical mal-alignment, which can be
corrected by special adjustments to the type bar.
2. CLOGGED TYPEFACE – refers to the dirty typefaces that may alter the formation or design of letters.
3. ESCAPEMENT – also known as PITCH. Refers to the abnormal/ uneven spacing of letters in a typed document.
4. MACHINE DEFECT – any defect of the typewriting resulting from the malfunctioning of the machine rather than the
typebar or type element.
5. OFF-ITS-FEET – the condition of a typeface or letter heavier on one side or corner than the remainder of its outline.
6. REBOUND – a defect in which a character prints a double impression with the lighter part slightly offset to the right or left.
7. TRANSITORY DEFECT – refers to the condition of a typewriter that has dirty typefaces, and clogged parts that may affect
the quality of the characters printed.
8. TYPEFACE DEFECT – refers to the actual damage, usually a break to the typeface of a typewriter

Typewriting identification

Determining machine impressions is another area of work where a document examiner can provide assistance. It is important
to determine what type of printing process was used to create a document, and identify the type and model of the typewriter and its
prints.

Typewriter identification involves a forensic examination of the known samples and the questioned typewritten text with the
examination focusing on:

1. Size of type
a. pica
 b. elite
c. roman (larger in size than pica)
2. Horizontal spacing of characters
3. Vertical line spacing
4. Character formation or type style
5. Defects – observe w/c are consistent in both the known samples and questioned typing

TYPEWRITER-A machine that can reproduce printed characters on paper or that can produce printed letters and figures on paper.

HISTORY and DEVELOPMENT of TYPEWRITING

January 7, 1714- the first recorded attempt to invent the typewriter was found in the record of the British Patent Office, granted by her
Majesty Queen Anne, to Henry Mill an English Engineer.
1827-the first United States patent for a mechanical writing machine was issued to William A. Burt of Detroit, Michigan.
1867- Christopher Latham Sholes developed the Sholes glided and sole typewriter patented on June 23, 1568, it mechanically
impressed the uppercased letter of the alphabet into a piece of paper. It may be viewed at the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C.
March 1, 1873-Sholes entered into a contract with the Remington Arms World Lion New York to produce the Sholes Gladules Sault
typewriter.
1874- model no. 1 of the Remington typewriter became available to the public.
1878-Remington model n0. 2 which first wrote both upper and lower cased letters were introduced.
1884-the Hammond Typewriter. The first single element machine operated by a keyboard on the market. It allows the user to quickly
switch between 2 different typefaces.
Ex. Normal and italic
Typeface-the printing surface of the type block or type element.
Type element- the type ball or type wheel of a single element.
1888-calligraph typewriter was introduced.
1890-the Victor typewriter is one of the many products called index machines.
1892-William typewriter is one of the wonderful oddities of typewriterdom featuring its intriguing grasshopper typebar machine.
1893-Wagner was the first practical visible writing typewriter.
1894- empire typewriter.
1895- fitch typewriter was first made in Brooklyn, New York and later in London, England.
1896- smith premier typewriter the classic double keyboard typewriter.
1923- Oliver 11 typewriter was the last in a long line of machines w/c were first introduced in 1895.
1926- Royal a first model of the typewriter attached to a parachute and tossed out of a plane to demonstrate its durability.
1930- underwood typewriters were known to be old fashioned in appearance even when their features were not.
1964- IBM brought out their electric typewriter w/c utilizes a type ball turning at high speed to impress

DEFINITION OF TERMS

1. Typeface – The printing surface of the type block.

2. Typeface defect – Any peculiarity of the typewriting caused by actual damage to the typeface metal which may be actual
break in the outline of the letters. 
3. Character(s) – In connection with typewriting, it is used to include letters, symbols, numerals or point of functions
4. Defect – The term defect describes any abnormality or maladjustment in a typewriter reflected in its works and leads to its
individualization or identification.
5. Mal-alignment – It is synonymous with the term ‘alignment defects”. 
6. Platen – The cylinder which serves as the backing of the paper and which absorbs the blow form the typeface.
TYPE OF TYPEFACE DEFECTS

1. Vertical mal-alignment – A character printing above or below its proper position.

2. Horizontal mal-alignment – An alignment defect in which the character prints to the right or to the left of its proper position.
3. Twisted letter – Letter and character is designed to print at a certain fixed angle to the baseline due to the wear and damage to
the type bar and the type block of which some letters become twisted so that they lean to the right or left of their correct slant.
4. Off-its-feet – The condition of a typeface printing heavier on one side or corner than the remainder of its outline.
5. Rebound – Typeface defect in which a character prints a double impression with the lighter one slightly offset to the right or
left.
6. Actual Breakage – Any peculiarity of typewriting caused by actual damage to the typeface metal which may be an actual
break in the line of the letters.
7. Clogged (Dirty typeface) – The typeface became filled with dirt and ink particularly in enclose letters.

Defects may be:

1. Permanent – Any identifying characteristics of a typewriter that cannot be corrected by simply cleaning the typeface or
replacing the ribbon. Actually, this term is not absolutely accurate since all defects in typewriters undergo modification and
change over time.
2. Transitory -Any identifying characteristics which can be eliminated by cleaning the machine or replacing the ribbon.

KINDS OF ALTERATION

ALTERATION- is defined as any change to a document that gives it a different effect from that it originally possessed. If change is
made after the execution of a document and without the consent of the other party or concerned person, then such change is called
fraudulent alteration.

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 the Latin word substitute (set up under).
ADDITION- in the document is defined as the insertion of any word, digit, etc which changes the meaning or value of the document.
INTERLINEATION- the act of inserting words or groups of words, or figures between lines in a text or document.
• It came from the Latin term linea (insert line or text).
• defined as the writing between the lines of any instrument for the purpose of adding to it or correcting what has been
written
• the act of inserting words or groups of words and figures in a line or along the line in a text of a document.
• It came from Latin CALARE (PROCLAIM).

Detecting alterations, obliterations, erasures, and page substitutions 

• Alterations, obliterations, and erasures not visible to the human eye can often be detected through the use of photography and
other imaging devices that utilize ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths of light.
• Using radiation filtered at various wavelengths, an imaging instrument such as a video spectral comparator (VSC) can reveal
writing that has been added with different ink or has been altered or removed by exploiting variations in the way different
inks respond to different wavelengths of light.
• For example, under certain light sources combined with an infrared filter, a document containing information written in ink
that has faded over time may be enhanced or processed to appear darker and therefore more legible.

LASER
• An acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.
• This produces what is called “coherent” light.
•
ERASURE DETECTION
A simple magnifying glass or a microscope used with oblique (angled) lighting uncovers most erasures.
• Ultraviolet or infrared light may expose tiny fragments of eraser and ink nestled into the fibers of the paper whenever
someone uses a rubber eraser.
• Lycopodium powder, when dusted over the page, clings to and exposes tiny rubber particles and eraser fragments that
invariably remain after erasures.

ALTERATION DETECTION
• Using radiation filtered at various wavelengths, an imaging instrument such as a video spectral comparator (VSC) can reveal
writing that has been added with different ink, or has been altered or removed by exploiting variations in the way different
inks respond to different wavelengths of light.
•
SUBSTITUTION DETECTION
• another form of forgery in which the forger doesn’t erase anything but rather adds to or overwrites a portion of a document.
Maybe a 1 is changed to a 9.
• If the forger uses the same ink that was used to prepare the original document, these types of changes can be extremely
difficult to uncover. But forgers don’t often have access to the pen or ink that was used for the original writing, so they make
do with a similar pen and ink color. Careful examination of the differing ink might reveal areas that have been altered.
• If these lighting techniques don’t provide any help, the examiner may have to examine the chemical contents of the inks to
show that they are indeed different.

ANARCHRONISM
It refers to the situation where the forger has trouble matching the paper, ink, or writing materials to the exact date it was supposed to
have been written

EXAMINING INTERLINEATION/INTERCALATION
• In examining interlineations, the tint or color of ink, quality of pen, size of letters, sequence of crossing strokes, and the parts
of letters that come in contact with the originally written letters should be minutely studied. The fraudulent entries are likely
to differ from the original or adjacent writing in size, slant and spacing and the shade of ink etc.