Phrenological Illustrations, or an Artist’s View of the Craniological System of Doctors Gall and Spurzheim
London: George Cruikshank, 1827. Phrenological Illustrations, or an Artist’s View of the Craniological System of Doctors Gall and Spurzheim, George Cruikshank, London, 1827, 15.5 x 11 inches, unpaginated w/ 6 plates.
Pictorial wrappers; four pages of text and six plates with tissue guards, bound with tape; all plates present; pages heavily worn to edges, moderately toned; all pages lightly foxed; edges, especially fore-edge, moderately soiled; good condition.
This is a second edition, published in 1827 and sold by J. Robins and Co. Ivy Lane, Paternoster Row; S. Knights, Sweeting’s Alley, Royal Exchange; and G. Humphrey, 24, St. James’s Street. Contains four preliminary pages and six plates, which all have tissue guards. This book satirizes the pseudoscience of phrenology, the study of the shape and features of the human skull to explain a person’s behavior, personality and other mental traits. Each engraving represents an area of the brain responsible for a different behavior or trait. Phrenology was developed by German physician Franz Joseph Gall in 1796, and it remained influential until around 1840; the term itself was popularized by Gall’s colleague Johann Gaspar Spurzheim.
George Cruikshank (1792-1878) was a renowned British caricaturist and book illustrator, considered the “modern Hogarth” of his time. He illustrated books for his friend Charles Dickens and many other notable authors, and by 1835 was considered the most important graphic artist in England. Good. Item #1232
Price: $260.00