In this Book

summary
The hand is second only to language in defining the human being, and its constant presence makes it a ready reminder of our humanity, with all its privileges and obligations. In this dazzling collection, Cole Swensen explores the hand from any angle approachable by language and art. Her hope: to exhaust the hand as subject matter; her joy: the fact that she couldn’t.

These short poems reveal the hand from a hundred different perspectives. Incorporating sign language, drawing manuals, paintings from the 14th to the 20th century, shadow puppets, imagined histories, positions (the “hand as a boatless sail”), and professions (“the hand as window in which the panes infinitesimal”), Cole Swensen’s fine hand is “that which augments” our understanding and appreciation of “this freak wing,” this “wheel that comforts none” yet remains “a fruit the size and shape of the heart.”

Table of Contents

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  1. Cover
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  1. Title Page, Copyright
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  1. Contents
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  1. Acknowledgments
  2. pp. xi-xiv
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  1. One: The History of the Hand
  1. The History of the Hand
  2. p. 3
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  1. The Prehistory of the Hand
  2. p. 4
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  1. The Hand Thinks
  2. p. 5
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  1. The Hand Defined: 1
  2. p. 6
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  1. The Hand Defined: 2
  2. p. 7
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  1. The Hand Defined: 3
  2. p. 8
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  1. Chirologia, or the Natural Language of the Hand
  2. p. 9
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  1. Of an Alphabet of Steppes
  2. p. 10
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  1. By the Eighteenth Century
  2. p. 11
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  1. A History of the Hand
  2. p. 12
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  1. The Hand as Historical
  2. p. 13
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  1. A History of the Hand
  2. p. 14
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  1. Two: Positions of the Hand
  1. Grasp
  2. p. 17
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  1. Fan
  2. p. 18
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  1. Grip
  2. p. 19
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  1. Hold
  2. p. 20
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  1. Sigh
  2. p. 21
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  1. Juggle
  2. p. 22
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  1. Traveling
  2. p. 23
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  1. Glove
  2. p. 24
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  1. The Mechanics of the Hand
  2. pp. 25-26
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  1. Three: Professions of the Hand
  1. Case Histories: Physical Aphasia
  2. p. 29
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  1. The Hand as Lamp
  2. p. 30
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  1. The Hand as Anchor
  2. p. 31
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  1. The Hand that Caresses
  2. p. 32
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  1. The Hand as Origami
  2. p. 33
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  1. The Hand as 19th-Century Harbor
  2. p. 34
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  1. The Theater of the Hand
  2. p. 35
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  1. The Hand as Ideogram
  2. p. 36
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  1. The Hand as Window
  2. p. 37
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  1. The Hand as Mansion
  2. p. 38
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  1. The Hand as Sun God
  2. p. 39
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  1. The Hand Polishes
  2. pp. 40-41
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  1. Expression
  2. p. 42
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  1. The Hand as Staircase
  2. p. 43
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  1. The Hand as Nest
  2. p. 44
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  1. The Hand as Mango
  2. pp. 45-46
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  1. Four: Representations of the Hand
  1. The Hands’ Testament
  2. p. 49
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  1. The Hands Testify
  2. p. 50
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  1. The Hand Painted In
  2. p. 51
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  1. The Hand Sculpted
  2. p. 52
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  1. The Hand Etched in Glass
  2. p. 53
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  1. The Hand Sketched
  2. p. 54
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  1. The Hand Photographed
  2. p. 55
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  1. The Hand in Fresco
  2. p. 56
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  1. Five: The Anatomy of the Hand
  1. Intro to the Palmar View
  2. p. 59
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  1. The Palmar View
  2. p. 60
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  1. The Palmar View, Continued
  2. p. 61
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  1. Palmar 3
  2. p. 62
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  1. Fingers 1
  2. p. 63
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  1. Fingers 2
  2. p. 64
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  1. Fingers: Alignment
  2. p. 65
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  1. Alignment, Continued
  2. p. 66
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  1. Fingertips
  2. p. 67
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  1. The Hand: Lower View: Oblique
  2. p. 68
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  1. The Bevel Itself
  2. p. 69
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  1. Knuckles
  2. p. 70
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  1. The Thumb: Based On
  2. p. 71
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  1. The Intern's Problem
  2. p. 72
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  1. The Thumb, In Sum
  2. p. 73
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  1. The Hand: Branching Out
  2. p. 74
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  1. The Hand: Back View, Fingers Arches
  2. p. 75
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  1. The Hand: Other Arches
  2. p. 76
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  1. The Fist
  2. p. 77
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  1. The Anatomy of Trees
  2. p. 78
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  1. The Mechanics of the Hand
  2. pp. 79-80
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  1. Six: American Sign Language
  1. Signs
  2. p. 83
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  1. The Manual Alphabet
  2. p. 84
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  1. Understanding the Past, Present, and Future
  2. p. 85
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  1. Pronouns
  2. p. 86
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  1. Thinking and Feeling
  2. p. 87
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  1. Flood
  2. p. 88
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  1. Garden
  2. p. 89
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  1. Rain
  2. p. 90
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  1. Ghost (Holy)
  2. p. 91
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  1. Deer
  2. p. 92
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  1. Evening
  2. p. 93
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  1. To Form the Simple Past
  2. p. 94
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  1. The Present Perfect: To Have
  2. p. 95
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  1. Sun
  2. p. 96
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  1. Animal
  2. pp. 97-98
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  1. Seven: Shadow Puppets
  1. The First Movies
  2. p. 101
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  1. Birds
  2. p. 102
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  1. Birds
  2. p. 103
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  1. Birds
  2. p. 104
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  1. Advances in the Form
  2. pp. 105-106
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  1. Eight: A Manual of Gesture: Public Speaking for the Gentleman (1879)
  1. Right Hand Descending Oblique Prone
  2. p. 109
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  1. Right Hand Horizontal Front Prone
  2. p. 110
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  1. Right Hand Ascending Lateral Supine
  2. p. 111
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  1. Right Hand Ascending Oblique Vertical
  2. p. 112
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  1. Both Hands Descending Lateral Prone
  2. pp. 113-114
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  1. Nine: Paintings of Possible Hands
  1. Wilton Diptych, 1395
  2. p. 117
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  1. Fra Angelico, Cell 7, San Marco, 1438-43
  2. p. 118
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  1. Dominique Ingres, Venus at Paphos, 1852–53
  2. p. 119
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  1. Auguste Rodin, Cathedral, 1908
  2. p. 120
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  1. Marc Chagall, Self-Portrait with Seven Fingers, 1912
  2. p. 121
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  1. Marcel Duchamp, Portrait of Doctor Raymond Dumouchel, 1910
  2. p. 122
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  1. Rembrandt van Rijn, The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicholaes Tulp, detail, 1632
  2. p. 123
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  1. Norman Bluhm and Frank O’Hara, Hand, 1960
  2. p. 124
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  1. Sean Scully, Landline Sand, 1999
  2. pp. 125-126
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