Condition of manuscript
Survives: Abstract, an erratum, the caption of Figure 1
Lost: Pages 2–48, Figure 1 itself
Erratum
The title of this paper should read “Hands: Why So Large?” The specimen has two hands, which is the usual number. The editors declined to correct the title, because the specimen enjoyed the original.
Abstract
Since 1702 it has been observed that the hands of Specimen H‑7 are out of all proportion to the rest of him. This paper reviews three centuries of theory on why, groups the theories into three schools (the Functional, the Symbolic, and the “He Just Has Big Hands”), and proposes a fourth: that the hands are the specimen, and the rest of him is there to carry them.
Figure 1
Figure 1. One hand of Specimen H‑7, drawn to scale.
Note on the remaining 47 pages
Pages 2 to 48 were lent to the Department of Applied Smallness for a reading group and have not come back. The reading group says it never received them. The pages are believed to have been handled.
Cite as: Okonkwo-Bell, T. (2023). Hands: Why So Many?. Theoretical Hands Quarterly 9(1) · 1–48.