ELLIS, Ida.

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A Catechism of Palmistry. Third edition, extensively revised and enlarged from the first of 1898. Ida Ellis was a member of the Ellis Family, a family of fortune tellers who made a killing in the popular seaside resort of Blackpool. Although considered quacks and eccentrics, the Ellises were firm in their beliefs, leading to significant scrutiny and even brushes with the law.Each member of the family had their own specializations, Ida's being palmistry, crystal gazing, automatic writing and psychometry, while her husband, Albert, specialized in graphology and phrenology, and her brother-in-law, Frank, in physiognomy. The family, particularly Ida, published a number of works promoting their research and knowledge on these topics. Ida was a fellow of the British Institute of Mental Science, founded by Albert in 1891. The institute acted as a regulatory body for fortune-tellers, educating students in these arcane fields, as well as issuing various levels of qualifications.

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