The Book of a Hundred Hands

By George B. Bridgman and George B. Bridgeman

Book Overview

"The Book of a Hundred Hands" is a seminal guide to the art of capturing the complexity and structure of the human hand. Written and illustrated by the influential art instructor George B. Bridgman, this comprehensive manual serves as an essential resource for artists seeking to master one of the most challenging subjects in figure drawing. Bridgman's approach emphasizes the structural anatomy and rhythmic movement of the hand, breaking down its intricate mechanics into manageable forms and proportions.

The work features over one hundred illustrations demonstrating the hand in various positions, from resting poses to dynamic gestures of action and tension. By exploring the interplay of bone, muscle, and tendon, Bridgman provides artists with a deep understanding of how the hand functions and appears in three-dimensional space. His method focuses on the "block" or "wedge" form, helping students grasp the underlying volume before adding detail.

Suitable for beginners and professionals alike, "The Book of a Hundred Hands" remains a foundational text in art education. It offers timeless insights into the expressive potential of the human figure, making it a valuable addition to any artist's library. Whether used for study or as a reference during the creative process, this volume continues to inspire and instruct generations of draftsmen and painters.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you may see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1025474236
• ISBN13: 9781025474236
• Release Date: February 2026
• Publisher: Tradd Street Press
• Length: 164 Pages
• Weight: 0.53 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Poor quality

As another reviewer said, this edition is not well done. The cover looks like someone took a bad photo of the real cover, and there are lots of pages within where the illustrations are dark and blotchy, which kind of defeats the purpose of having illustrations to help show what the book is trying to tell you. I’m going to keep an eye out for a different copy, luckily some of the illustrations in this one are still ok. Definitely not worth the price though, for a half usable book.

I got the 2021 edition

Im sure this book used to be amazing. That is until 2021 where someone took photos of the original version and published it as their own. The cover is dark on one side and literally looks like a bad picture. I get it though, its over 100 years old at that point and still useful... that is however until you realize that many of the illustrations have weird dark blotches over them like some sort of bad scan... very dissapointed. Will still look for the pre 2021 edition but this one is terrible.

great book

if you're an artist or just someone who wants to learn how to draw.. this is a great book to have

One of my Top 3 Bridgman books- great in drawing from memory...

Mainly for intermediate-level artists- it's actually *GREAT* for enthusiastic beginners. It has a little bit of *everything* depicting hand construction from memory. It's also great for general improvement; a few tips & tricks- an *excellent* reference for all working artists. The genius of Bridgman, at least for me, is mainly in his construction of heads & hands. The genius in Bridgman is that he selects important lines & planes: He emphasizes the *essential*. His drawings aren't always eye-poppingly 3-D, and to me, that's actually a good thing. They're mainly simplistic- yet amazingly effective. There's *great* power in this simplicity here! Here's the formula I use: copying Bridgman + photos + my favorite artists= success(!). And this book represents his best work on hands- even *better* than his Complete Guide, which includes much of this material. In fact, this book, *along with photographs*, has enabled me to draw hands completely from memory in an amazing range of angles & views! And it's helped me quicker than any other book on the market; quicker even than Burne Hogarth's incredibly popular Drawing Dynamic Hands. The design & layout here are really among Bridgman's best. If you flip rapidly through these pages, initially you might not be impressed. But if you take the time to look at each page, you'll notice some drawings are a bit better than others. Some of his best drawings are his smallest(!). For instance- In learning to draw from memory, I started by copying smaller hands, working my way up to bigger & better detail. I started by copying pages 119 & 101- it's amazing what just a few lines can teach! Many pages are like this: simple, easy, and effective; for beginners, intermediate & up. In short: My Highest Recommendation- 5 STARS!

A Very 'Handy' book!

This is a superb little book to have around the studio at all times. Although there are one or two better books on the subject of drawing this most difficult of body parts (Burne Hogarth's 'Drawing Dynamic Hands' is the best), there is nothing to match this one for sheer value for money.While Bridgman's illustrations are a little sketchy for my taste, you can't beat the sheer convenience of having a book containing one hundred different hand positions around when you need a quick reference for a particular hand position...and all for under eight dollars. What more do you want? A chocolate cover?Great illustrations, good, informative text, a handy size, and great value for money. What are you waiting for?Buy this book now!

Excellent beginning to intermediate book at a good price

There are two excellent books that I know of that focus specifically on the anatomy of the hand for the artist. I was given this book early in my aspiring art career by my grandmother (an accomplished artist) but lost it some while later. I had forgotten the title and ended up buying Hogarth's "Drawing Dynamic Hands" as a guide after failed attempts to locate this book again. I would actually recommend getting them both, but start with this book first. In the end I got alot out of both, but there were many times using the Hogarth book that I missed "Hundred Hands".Hogarth's style of illustration in all of his books is much more imbellished by his use of soft shading to illustrate volume. His look is extremely useful but it can also be an obstacle to a beginning to intermediate student since end result is a more stylized appearance. With Hogarth's books, the student can find themselves inadvertently adopting the look of his images in their own style. Bridgeman's illustrations are much more loose and sketch-like. He uses little or no shading but his understanding of volume and structure rivals Hogarth's. The simplicity of his examples are much easier to get started with. He accomplishes just as much if not more with a few loose lines as Hogarth's vivid shading. More importantly the sketch-like quality can be much less intimidating early on.While it's true Hogarth's book is definitely nicer to look at, I believe Bridgeman's is a much better learning guide for starters. The price of this book also makes it affordable to use them as compliments to one another if you decide get both.

Book of Hands

This is a fantastic resource for any artist wanting to understand the human hand. Bridgman breaks down the hand to basic shapes and then builds up to the rendered hand showing you along the way how the bones, muscles, tendons and veins relate to the overall shape of the hand. I highly recomend any of Bridgman's books for a better understanding of drawing the human body.