This is a comparison image of the letter R from two documents from the Tamam Shud case, both from copies of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam:
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On the left is the letter R from Jestyn's Inscription, in cursive, in the book she gave to Alf Boxall
and on the right is the letter R, in Capitals, found on the Somerton Man Code Page. |
As you can see there is quite a strong resemblance between these two letters. Is it sufficient though to say they were written by the same person?
On the first glance it does seem to be a fair conclusion but we have to consider that the image on the left is handwritten in cursive style whilst on the right, the letter was a stand alone capital letter traced over by the Police. You could argue that the tracing looks to have been patiently and faithfully done and the overall shape of the R is almost identical with one notable difference in the image on the left, the shape of the curve down and away from the central up stroke towards the letter 'e' in 'Repentance' is neatly curved. Would that be because the 'R' in the inscription is in cursive style whilst the R on the right from the Code page is a stand alone capitalised shape?
Looking closer at the R from the code page you can just about make out the outlines of the smaller letters/numbers of the micro code as the Police attempted to capture every individual character, a difficult job at best and whilst there are at least two other letters that show the same detailed approach, the first letter M in line 2 and the letter V in line 5, it does seem that in this process they changed their tack and all other letters were copied with individual strokes of the writing instrument as opposed to the almost 'stippled' appearance of the three letters R, M and V.
Handwriting analysis and comparison is not an exact science and thus you would need to exercise a fair degree of caution in arriving at a conclusion that said both letter shapes were originally made by the same person. Nonetheless, it is a most interesting comparison image and may yet play a part in the final answer.
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ReplyDeleteYesterday on another Blog, Nick Pelling posted a comparison image like the one above of the 2 letters R but interestingly he reversed their appearance so that the cursive style appeared on the right and the Capital R appeared on the left as you look at the image. What was also noticeable is that the two images were of different sizes, not a good comparison as it accentuates and mis shapes the differences.
ReplyDeleteHa also failed to mention that I had pointed out the need for caution.
He then went on to say
'All in all, if there is a match there, I’d say it’s a pretty thin one… but I thought I ought to say.'
Apart from plagiarising and repeating what I had already said about the need for caution what else is wrong with this statement is that he made it without considering that one letter was a Capital and the other Cursive style and that he had used, as stated 2 different sized letters. The latter of course gives a distorted end comparison image that is of little or no value. The moral of this story is do the right thing. By that I mean all Nick had to do was to ask if he could quote and I would have said no problem and would have let you have copies of the proper comparison image.
As things stand now Nick, you don't have permission to use any of my material or images without first asking and I will honestly consider it and approve it only if I feel comfortable with your motives.
When you examine things of this nature, you really have to think past the obvious and not fall into the beginners trap of thinking you have it right first time, it always come back to bite you. Check it out, think round it, through it and over it and get your facts right.
Get your act into gear Nick :)
Watch this space :)