The Greatest Handwriting Mystery ofthe Eighteenth CenturyThe Junius Letters

Between January 21, 1769, and January 21, 1772, a series of letters were published in a London newspaper. These letters were highly critical of King George and the British government. Although the letters were signed with several different names, they collectively came to be called “The Letters of Junius.” The true identity of Junius remained a mystery for decades after the letters’ publication. Many people conducted their own investigations in an attempt to identify Junius. Most of these investigations were not directed toward any handwriting comparisons. However, in 1868, a “general Expert in handwriting” named Charles Chabot was hired specifically to conduct handwriting comparisons in this matter. Chabot’s reports were published in 1871. His examination techniques and reasoning processes provide ample evidence of his skills in this area and lend significance to his identification of the writer of the Junius letters. His explanations of the manner in which he conducted his comparisons also reveal that the principles used by today’s Forensic Document Examiners originated much earlier than generally thought.