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. The hardcover book is hand sewn with a four-hole Japanese stab binding, with foil stamping on the front and back covers. A wrap around endsheet creates a spine for the book on which the title is printed. The text pages are printed on a light gray paper in pink and blue. 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 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.