Project Gutenberg 2011-01-05 Public domain in the USA. 518 Herschel, William James 1833 1917 Herschel, William J. 17021614 The Origin of Finger-Printing Produced by Eric Hutton and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "The Origin of Finger-Printing" by Sir William J. Herschel is a scientific publication written in the early 20th century. The book presents an in-depth examination of the development of the finger-print method of personal identification, which originated in India in the late 19th century. It chronicles the journey of this innovative technique from its early use for administrative and legal purposes to its eventual establishment as a critical tool for identification in law enforcement. In the narrative, Herschel recounts his experiences as an official in British India, where he first experimented with finger-printing while dealing with issues of forgery and fraud. His experimentation began in 1858 when he invited a local contractor to use his finger prints in place of a written signature, leading to revelations about the uniqueness and permanence of fingerprint patterns. The book is enriched with anecdotes and historical context, featuring the author's interactions with various individuals who contributed to the recognition and formalization of the finger-printing system. Overall, Herschel advocates for the adoption of fingerprinting as a reliable method for verifying identity, highlighting its transformative impact on legal practices. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 68.5 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read. en Fingerprints HV Text Category: History - British Category: History - Modern (1750+) Category: Law & Criminology 87669 2025-10-14T08:31:24.303851 text/html 82377 2011-01-05T15:05:16 text/html 1209953 2025-10-14T08:31:30.016810 application/epub+zip 1209377 2025-10-14T08:31:27.215836 application/epub+zip 98594 2025-10-14T08:31:26.020788 application/epub+zip 1342192 2025-10-14T08:31:32.036822 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 1329401 2025-10-14T08:31:29.247901 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 186458 2022-09-16T05:36:43.956337 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 70239 2025-10-14T08:31:23.893798 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 70172 2011-01-05T15:10:38 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 70249 2011-01-05T15:05:38 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 20446 2025-10-14T08:31:32.169772 application/rdf+xml 15174 2025-10-14T08:31:26.533811 image/jpeg 3629 2025-10-14T08:31:26.274780 image/jpeg 27066 2011-01-05T15:11:30 application/octet-stream application/zip 1112356 2011-01-05T15:11:30 application/octet-stream application/zip 27039 2011-01-05T15:11:30 application/octet-stream application/zip 1293474 2025-10-14T08:31:24.380841 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia