The Art of Palmistry by Dr. Hartlieb

The Hand as a Mirror of Destiny

In the late Middle Ages, some scholars regarded the hand as a readable map of the human being. Lines, mounts, and distinctive signs were believed to reveal character, love, and future destiny. The Art of Chiromancy introduces this method of interpretation and combines practical instruction with a sequence of schematic images of hands.

The right hand was examined for men and the left for women. The form, course, and intersections of the lines were each assigned a particular meaning. Palmistry is therefore presented as an ordered system of recognizable signs and established interpretations.

Fortune, Love, and Extraordinary Lives

After an introduction, male and female hands are arranged in corresponding pairs. Brief German inscriptions explain which features were thought to indicate good or ill fortune, adventurousness, illness, sorcery, or particular forms of behavior. Happiness in love, infidelity, jealousy, and romantic suffering also receive considerable attention.

The images make the system immediately usable: readers could compare the illustrated lines with an actual hand and consult the accompanying interpretation. The palm becomes a stage for human hopes, fears, and imagined destinies.

A Work for Anna of Brunswick

The text is traditionally attributed to Johannes Hartlieb, court physician and adviser to Duke Albrecht III of Bavaria. According to the older tradition, the treatise was composed in 1448 for the duke’s wife, Anna of Brunswick. Hartlieb’s authorship, however, has not been conclusively established.

The dedication image gives visual form to this connection. A learned figure identified as “Doctor Hartlieb” presents the enthroned noblewoman with an open book bearing the image of a hand. The scholarly instruction is thus placed within a courtly and personal setting.

Forty-Four Hands Printed as a Block Book

The surviving edition was created in Augsburg around 1488–1490. It contains an introduction and 44 plates depicting hands. A woman’s left hand on each verso is paired with a man’s right hand on the facing recto. Lines, signs, and explanatory scrolls were carved together into wooden blocks and printed in a single operation.

This technique defines the block book. Unlike printing with movable type, each complete page was cut into an individual block. For a work in which image and inscription are inseparable, the process offered a decisive advantage: each interpretation remained permanently connected to its corresponding hand diagram.

Four States of a Block-Book Edition

The blocks were stored, reused, and altered over time. Four different states of the edition are known. The first two lack quire marks and information about the producer; later states added typographic signatures and a colophon naming Jörg Schapf.

The surviving copy belongs to the final state. Whether the Augsburg block cutter and bookbinder Schapf created the earliest impressions or acquired the blocks later remains uncertain. These alterations make the volume a record of continuing revision in the early history of printing.

Paper Covers Resembling Precious Leather Bindings

A particularly appealing feature is the printed paper covering. Woodcuts imitate the ornamental design of Gothic leather bindings, using a modest material to create the appearance of an elaborately decorated book cover.

The Art of Chiromancy therefore preserves far more than a manual of palm reading. Its hand diagrams, inscriptions, printing states, and unusual covers bring together late medieval divination, courtly knowledge, and the experimental spirit of early book production.