First edition from 1919 of PALMISTRY FOR ALL by Cheiro, in well preserved condition. The boards and binding are solid and tight save for rubbing on the boards. The pages are crisp and clean. Signed by the author ("with best regards") on the first blank page. A comprehensive analysis of palmistry otherwise known as cheriomancy through the highly well noted late 19th / early 20th century psychic and occultist, Cheiro. 187 pages, with advertisements at rear. Includes "upwards of 60 illustrations."
Biography
William John Warner (also known as Count Louis Hamon according to some sources), popularly known as Cheiro (November 1, 1866 – October 8, 1936), was an Irish astrologer and colorful occult figure of the early 20th century. His sobriquet, Cheiro, derives from the word cheiromancy, meaning palmistry. He was a self-described clairvoyant who learned palmistry, astrology, and Chaldean numerology in India during his stay there. He was celebrated for using these forms of divination to make personal predictions for famous clients and to foresee world events. Cheiro had a wide following of famous European and American clients during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He read palms and told the fortunes of famous celebrities like Mark Twain, W. T. Stead, Sarah Bernhardt, Mata Hari, Oscar Wilde, Grover Cleveland, Thomas Edison, the Prince of Wales, General Kitchener, William Ewart Gladstone, and Joseph Chamberlain. He documented his sittings with these clients by asking them to sign a guest book he kept for the purpose, in which he encouraged them to comment on their experiences.
Cheiro made numerous accurate predictions. For example, Cheiro predicted that the Jews would return to Palestine and the country would again be called Israel nearly 30 years before the creations of
Israel.
In his book, Titanic's Last Secrets includes a detailed account of one of Cheiro's palm readings with William Pirrie, chairman of Harland and Wolf, builders of the Titanic. Cheiro predicted that he would soon be in a fight for his life, talking about the battle surrounding the Titanic sinking. So popular was Cheiro as a "Society Palmist" that even those who were not believers in the occult had their hands read by him. The skeptical Mark Twain wrote in Cheiro's visitor's book: “Cheiro has exposed my character to me with humiliating accuracy. I ought not to confess this accuracy, still I am moved to do so. – Mark Twain."
