Introduction
1. In fact, every reference to palmistry in the Bible is favorable: “[H]e said, ‘Wherefore doth my lord thus pursue after his servant? for what have I done? or what evil is in my hand?’” (1 Sam. 26:18); “Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honor” (Prov. 3:16); “Behold I have graven thee on the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me” (Isa. 49:16).
2. Adolphe A. Desbarrolles, Révélations complètes (Paris: Vigot frères, 1859. Reprinted 1922).
3. Casimir Stanislaus d’Arpentigny, La chirognomie, ou l’art de reconnaître les tendances de l’intelligence d’après les formes de la main (Paris: Charles le Clere, 1843). My friends gave me a copy of the first English translation of this book one year for Christmas. The English title is The Science of the Hand, translated by Ed. Heron-Allen (London: Ward, Lock and Bowden, 1865).
Chapter One
1. George Muchary, Traite complet de la chiromancie deductive et experimental (Paris: Editions du Chariot, 1958).
Chapter Two
1. Richard Webster, Revealing Hands (St. Paul: Llewellyn Publications, 1994), p. 87.
Chapter Three
1. William G. Benham, The Laws of Scientific Hand Reading (New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1900), p. 380.
2. Adolphe Desbarrolles, Les Mystères de la main (Paris: Garnier frères, 1859).
3. Desbarrolles, Révélations complètes.
4. Henri Mangin, La Main, miroir du destin (Paris: Editions Fernand Sorlot, 1939).
Chapter Four
1. Comte C. de Saint-Germain, The Practice of Palmistry for Professional Purposes. This book was originally published in 1897, and is still available in many editions. I consider it to be one of the worst books on the subject of palmistry.
Chapter Six
1. Benham, The Laws of Scientific Handreading; William Benham, How to Choose Vocations from the Hand (reprinted by Sagar Publications, New Delhi, 1974).
Chapter Nine
1. James S. Thompson and Margaret W. Thompson, Genetics in Medicine (Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders Company, 1966), p. 244.
2. Harold Cummins, M.D., and Charles Midlo, Fingerprints, Palms and Soles (New York: Dover Publications, 1943).
3. Beryl Hutchinson, Your Life in Your Hands (London: Neville Spearman Limited, 1967), p. 110.
Chapter Ten
1. There are many serious medical books that discuss dermatoglyphics (the study of skin ridge patterns). One of the most approachable of these is Dermatoglyphics in Medical Disorders by Blanka Schaumann and Milton Alter (New York: Springer-Verlag, 1976). A book on medical palmistry written for the general public is Medical Palmistry: Health and Character in the Hand by Marten Steinback (Secaucus, NJ: University Books, 1975).
2. Charles Dickens, David Copperfield (first published in 1850; numerous editions available).