The archive
Famous Hands
Hands Cheiro and his contemporaries recorded, with the original readings. Plate scans are public-domain; where one isn't yet digitised the frame is left marked.
Plate 1Mark Twain
American author
Cheiro read his hand in the 1890s and later corresponded with him about the markings on his life line.
Plate 2Oscar Wilde
Playwright & wit
One of the London literary figures who sat for Cheiro during his years off Bond Street.
Plate 3W. T. Stead
Journalist & reformer
A sitting Cheiro described in detail in his own memoirs, including a warning about travel by sea.
Plate 4King Edward VII
King of the United Kingdom
Reportedly read at a private London gathering — an episode Cheiro references in his writing.
Plate 5Sarah Bernhardt
Stage actress
Read during Cheiro's years working in Paris, according to his own account.
Plate 6Count Leo Tolstoy
Novelist
A reading described in Cheiro's recollections of his travels through Europe.
Plate 7Thomas Edison
Inventor
Cheiro claimed a reading during a visit to the United States, noting the inventor's head line.
Plate 8Lord Kitchener
Military commander
A reading later invoked in discussions of a sharply marked fate line and an untimely end.
Plate 9Joseph Chamberlain
Statesman
Among the political figures Cheiro says he read in London society circles.
Plate 10Grover Cleveland
U.S. President
Reportedly read during Cheiro's American tour, as recounted in his memoirs.