Bertillon Registration Books (PA) 1888-1895

About This Collection

Bertillon books for inmates incarcerated at the Western State Penitentiary. Information provided is inmate number, name of inmate, length and width of head, length of left middle finger, length of left foot, length of left forearm, height, width of trunk, length of outstretched arms, length of right ear, and length of left little finger. (While working with offenders detained in Paris’s Palais de Justice in 1882, Alphonse Bertillon (1853-1914) used statistical methods to devise a system of bodily measurement intended to identify criminal characteristics. Bertillon’s methods involved photographing each subject looking directly at the camera and in profile with the camera centered on the right ear. The subject’s height, length of one foot, arm, and index finger were also recorded. By the 1890s, Bertillon also recognized that fingerprints provided a means for unique identification of individuals. Though many scientists, including Francis Galton, criticized on statistical grounds Bertillon’s system of measuring the hands, head, torso, face and limbs as a method of identifying criminal characteristics, the records generated nonetheless proved useful for identifying and keeping track of specific individuals convicted of crimes.) Images are arranged chronologically by inmate number. This collection is part of the Department of Justice which administers the state correctional institutions for the Commonwealth.

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Western State Penitentiary: Bertillon Registration Books (Roll 6750)