Cheiro’s Language of the Hand
Concept by Lex Thompson
Design by Joshua Eller and Lex Thompson
New Introduction by Dr. Edward O’Hare Minneapolis,
Minnesota: History-Papers, 2022. Edition of 50.

8 x 10 x.75”; 194 pages. Digital and Risograph prints. Pastedowns of thermochromic paper. Hand sewn with a four-hole Japanese stab binding, with foil stamping on the front and back covers. Text pages printed on a light gray paper in pink and blue.

Lex Thompson: "Published by History-Papers, ‘Cheiro’s Language of the Hand’, reimagines Cheiro’s nineteenth-century palmistry text; an instructional guide to palm reading as science rather than occult art. This dubious application of scientific ideas has the flair of parlor tricks, the language of science with the feel of magic. … It is set in Gills Sans, a humanist sans-serif typeface, released near the end of Cheiro’s life, chosen for its suggestion of objectivity with still a touch of the human hand. Pages of celebrity handprints (Mark Twain, Sarah Bernhardt, William Gladstone, etc.) are Risograph printed on thermochromic paper; the pink and blue sheets turn white with the heat of human touch, leaving the reader’s handprint temporarily on the page – a kind of scientific magic."

The original title page reads -

As is the mind, so is the form
CHEIRO
LANGUAGE OF THE HAND
A complete practical work on the sciences of
Cheirognomy and Cheiromancy, containing
the system, rules, and experience of
CHEIRO
(Count of Hamomg)

Fifty-five Full-page Illustrations and
over Two Hundred Engravings of Lines, Mounts, and Marks.
Drawings of the seven types by Theo Dore.
Reproductions of famous hands,
Also normal and abnormal hands taken from life.

Containing Illustrations of the wonderful scientific invention
The apparatus for “Thought Photograph and register of cerebral force”

$90