We are thrilled to welcome Alison Bashford, Laureate Professor of History at the University of New South Wales here at Hatchards this evening to discuss her intriguing and revelatory new book:
Decoding the Hand: A History of Science, Medicine, and Magic
an astounding history of magic, medicine and science, and the enduring search for how our bodily surfaces might reveal an inner self—a soul, a character, an identity.
From sixteenth-century occult physicians influenced by the Kabbalah to twentieth-century geneticists, and from criminologists to eugenicists, this is a remarkable journey into the strange world of hand readers, revealing how signs on the hand—its shape, lines, marks, and patterns—have been elaborately decoded over the centuries.
As we will discover this evening, the divination promised by palmistry and the appeal to self-knowledge offered by modern genetic testing makes clear that palm-reading is far from a relic or simple charlatanism.
We hope you can join us for what promises to be a truly fascinating evening of discussion.
