A photograph from Alphonse Bertillon's photo album from his exhibition at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

Mensuration de la coudée [Measurement of the cubit (from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow)]

Courtesy of the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

Alphonse Bertillon's "The Speaking Portrait"

Illustration from "The Speaking Portrait" (Pearson's Magazine, Vol XI, January to June 1901) demonstrating the principles of Bertillon's anthropometry.

Alphonse Bertillon's Anthropometric Identification System

Identification anthropométrique (1893), demonstrating the measurements one takes for his anthropometric identification system.

The Bonnot Gang

The Bonnot Gang originally consisted of a group of French anarchists centered around the individualist anarchist magazine L’Anarchie. The group was founded by Octave Garnier, Raymond Callemin, and René Valet. It was Garnier's idea to use automobiles in the service of a daring criminal act. Jules Bonnot joined them  in December 1911.

Class on the Bertillon system in France in 1911

The system was widely used by French police and in other European countries. In France, it was popular enough that it was widely used even after the advent of fingerprinting. One audacious member of the Bonnot gang sent police his fingerprints because he knew they did not have them, just his physical measurements.

Class on the Bertillon system in France in 1911

In 1882 Bertillon decided to show a criminal identification system known as anthropometry but later also known as Bertillonage in honor of its creator. In this system the person was identified by measurement of the head and body, individual markings - tattoos, scars - and personality characteristics.

The measurements were made into a formula that would apply to only one person and would not change. He used it in 1884 to identify 241 multiple offenders, and the system was quickly adopted widely by American and British police forces. Part of its benefit was that by arranging the records carefully, it would be very easy to sift through a large number of records quickly given a few measurements from the person to be identified. While it might not always give an exact match, it would allow one to narrow the pool of possible people and then to compare the person with a photograph.

Alphonse Bertillon

Did you know that Alphonse Bertillon is the Inventor of the mug shot? Here he is using himself as a model.

Alphonse Bertillon

Did you know Anthropometry was the first scientific system used by police to identify criminals?

Alphonse Bertillon was a French police officer and biometrics researcher who created anthropometry, an identification system based on physical measurements.