The bookstore

[gerritvolckeryck]

"Your Complete Latent Print Book Source" isn't complete anymore. The last couple of years, this page, indeed an excellent source, hasn't been updated anymore.

It is also a pity that not a single book in a "foreign" language is listed. No Vucetich, no Locard, no Heindl, ...

Is this page only a discontinued bookstore, or will it continue to be a reference for all ?

Gerrit

[Kasey Wertheim]

Excellent question, and very timely. The bookstore has just purchased a private collection, including several books in other languages. The bookstore has also purchased software and delivery of software reading material is expected to re-format the bookstore into a more traditional "shopping cart" style website that pulls information from a database. This will be deployed when it is built in the near future so that it can continue to be a relevant resource for all. More recent titles will be added, and if folks have specific titles they see are missing, now would be a perfect time to incorporate them: Kaseywertheim@aol.com. Thanks for your interest, and I look forward to seeing the updated site as much as you!

-Kasey

[gerritvolckeryck]

Let's start with this one :
1891 (on first page, 1892 on second page) Dr. R. Forgeot : "Des empreintes digitales étudiées au point de vue medico-judiciaire" (Fingerprints, studied from a medico-judicial point of view"

Forgeot, a student of Lacassagne in Lyon, describes several fingerprint development techniques :
On paper : Mercury pronitrate, palladium chlorate, Sodiumsulfate, Iodine (and a Fixing method : Acetosilver nitrate), silver nitrate, eosine, Osmic acid and a method he developed himself, using ink
On glass : Osmic acid and Fluorhydricacid vapour
Furtheron in the book are the classification methods of Galton and Féré, frequency of certain fingerprint patterns, heredity and stability. Methods to examine fingerprints and photography. In every copy there's a beautiful original ferroprussiate photograph of a handprint, enhanced on paper with his own inkmethod.

When Galton visited Lacassagne's lab in 1891, he was shown several enhancement techniques by Forgeot. In "Finger Prints" (p. 46), Galton describes some of Forgeot's enhancement methods, but curiously enough in the middle of chapter III on how to take prints.

Very rare (found only one, which I bought). Can be downloaded (http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/CadresFenetre ... elecharger) or viewed (http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k76967m) in pdf from the French national library http://gallica.bnf.fr/

[gerritvolckeryck]

Another interesting work is that of Robert Heindl, named "System und Praxis der Daktyloskopie", which was first published in 1922, had a second edition in the same year and a third in 1927 (Publisher : Walter de Gruyter & Co, Berlin). Especially the third edition is very comprehensive (780 pages):
1. History (including the use of fingerprints in the east, BC)
2. Physiological basics
3. How to take fingerprints
4. Classification of fingerprints
5. crime scene fingerprint search
6. other uses of fingerprints
7. other identification methods
8. Organisation of identification bureaus
9. Judicial questions
10. Remarks (last consequence)
11. Literature list
12. Alphabetical register
This book may be considered as a contemporary encyclopedia on finger prints and is a "must have" for those who study the history of fingerprints.

Robert Heindl (*Munchen, 24 Juli 1883 † Irschenhausen, 25 September 1958), a law student, read about the accomplishments of Henry in 1902 and proposed that fingerprints should also be used in Germay. Dresden
quickly realised his proposal. He studied in Paris (Bertillon) and London (Scotland Yard) and became the chief of the CID in Dresden and chief ot the identification service in Bayern.

[gerritvolckeryck]

Edmond Locard published his "Traité de Criminalistique" (Criminalistic treatise) from 1931 to 1940 : 7 books of 500 pages each. The first part deals exclusively with dactyloscopy, mentionning basicly every technique or classification method, comparison methodology, ... known to that date. Also about legal issues, conclusions, poroscopy, history, footprints, embryology, ... With lots of references and case reports, not only from France, but from all over the world.

Hard to find, usually softcover, expensive.

[gerritvolckeryck]

"Dactiloscopia Comparada - El Nuevo Sistema Argentino" (1904) Juan Vucetich - 115 pages + 81 pages with illustrations

13 years after the introduction of the fingerprint system in Argentina, Vucetich publishes his classification system, with loads of images. Also some information on the technique how to take fingerprints, a comparison with the anthropometrical method and other fingerprint classification methods, the Rojas Case, ... Also added were facsimile images of letters by Galton, Gross and Lombroso. The book is dedicated to Galton.

Very rare.