Graphology - handwriting

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I won't post this as a science thread, because it's not to me - what do you think? - but I think.in some way it can be an art.
I've been interested in graphology for a little while and if going more in depth, finds it less contradictory than a general outlook.
Now that is a very simplified picture of what graphology is, but I found it averagely rather accurate and pretty accurate when it was about pronounced personality traits. How about you?

I personally believe it to be useful if treated as an art and done properly as a tool for personal growth.

There are some credible books available although many of the classics are a little old.

I have learned a lot about psychology by reading very many graphology books.

Which books would you recommend? I've read a couple, a bit old, and a bit superficial, so, contradictory. More like basic methods.

Out of the books that are easily available you can divide them into two categories: Firstly those introductory books from the last decade or so that a written with a more commercial mass-market intent, and secondly older books which were written by the influential graphologists, most of which are out-of-print. There are some interesting books in the second category but you have to scour internet book stores to find a reasonable price.

In the first category: Handwriting Psychology by Helmut Ploog is a good modern introduction but is not in-depth at all. Handwriting Analysis, The Complete Basic Book by Amend and Ruiz gives a lot of info about the trait approach but that approach requires a leap of faith and seems arbitrary without knowing the underlying principles.

In the second category: For a more in depth knowledge I would recommend anything by Renna Nezos, Klara Roman or Marie Bernard. Actually there is a good relatively recent book(2007) Gestalt Graphology by Felix Klein that deals with the subject in depth, not for the beginner.

Thank you.

I need something to make sure I got the patterns. That should be fast. Then I'll go deeper. I'll look into what you suggested. I'm sure it'll lead me somewhere I don't expect, but you have start somewhere.

I am skeptical, it's just too horoscopey to me, which is just a collection of Barnum Statements.

Barnum Effect

No problem. If you are looking for a first book on the subject then Handwriting Analysis: Putting It To Work for You by Andrea Mcnichol is also pretty good. It fanned my enthusiasm when I read it. A lot of it is common sense but that it not a bad thing. The problem is there are no really self-contained books and there are contradictions between many of them so you have to be able to really see it for yourself. Personally I reject some of what I read if I cannot see any reason for it.

I work the same way. It has to make sense globally, then consolidate with details. I am skeptical about common sense, sometimes it needs to be challenged. What I mean is I don't take common sense as truth, even though it can be a good general base, it's rately enoughh. It is in research.
I think I'll write a notebook with what I find important on the matter, it may take some time, but I might share some info if I think it's relevant.

I have always been fascinated with this subject. I was a conference once for business and I had my handwriting evaluated. The gentleman doing the evaluation said that there were two personalities behind the writing. I didn't know at the time that I had Asperger's but I told him about a tribal mask tattoo that I have that represented the me the world sees and the me that very few people get to see. I was amazed that he could get all that out my sloppy hand writing.

I have studied numerous books on the subject and there are a few things about it I can say for sure:
1. There are quite a few people in the field who make statements without really caring whether they have any basis in graphology or not. And I am not just talking about innocuous statements but about potentially libellous comments about sexuality, criminal tendency etc.
2. Its biggest strength seems to be as a therapeutic tool in clinical psychiatry used by an already qualified psychiatrist. Some of these people have used it with thousands of patients who have disorders, are incarcerated, etc, and can speak from experience. Some also have used it with the patient involved like in a Rorschach Ink Blot Test.
3. It does not find much acceptance in the English speaking world, however in Europe it is much more popular. It is used for recruitment selection in France, and universities (for example in Munich and Barcelona) consider it valid to study.
4. It is not the same as questioned document examination used in court cases although some specialists in this field also practice graphology.
5. There is no standard for what graphology actually is and therefore there is little chance of it obtaining widespread acceptance as a science.
6. It can tell you a lot about psychology and particularly about interactions, however not quickly or easily.