The Physiognomy of Hands (1917)

Jun 12, 2014



Pages 317 and 318 from a book titled Analyzing character, the new science of judging men: misfits in business, the home and social life (1917) by Katherine M. H. Blackford, M.D. and Arthur Newcomb. The book comes at the tail-end of a long tradition of physiognomy (which perhaps saw its peak in the mid 19th century), a pseudoscientific theory claiming that the outward appearance of a person can reveal essential aspects of their personality and character. Although perhaps not too controversial on the face of it (as it were), the theory has a darkness lingering due to its close links with "scientific racism".