The Art of Physiognomy - A Collection of Historical Articles on Reading Character from Physiology

By Read Books Ltd.

This book contains classic material dating back to the 1900s and before. The content has been carefully selected for its interest and relevance to a modern audience. Carefully selecting the best articles from our collection we have compiled a series of historical and informative publications on the subjects of phrenology and physiognomy. The titles in this range include "Phrenology and Marriage" "A Guide to the Art of Phrenology" "Social Propensities as Seen in Phrenology" and many more. Each publication has been professionally curated and includes all details on the original source material. This particular instalment, "The Art of Physiognomy" contains information on the analysis and interpretation of head shapes. It is intended to illustrate aspects of physiognomy and serves as a guide for anyone wishing to obtain a general knowledge of the subject and understand the field in its historical context. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Read Books Ltd.
• Release date: Sep 14, 2016
• ISBN: 9781473356832

Book preview

PHYSIOGNOMY.

PHRENOLOGY is a branch of Physiognomy in the proper sense of the term. The first designation Phrenology got from its founders was A System of Physiognomy. It was only after its introduction in England that it received from an Englishman the name of Phrenology. Phren, in Greek, means the Diaphragm, which was supposed to be the seat of the Mind, and logos makes it a legitimate title for Mind Science, or at least as good as any of the Greek derivatives. Physiognomy, in reality, means the outward appearance of the whole body—attitude, gait, height, size, and all other appearances, including those of the head. Popularly considered, Physiognomy is confined to the features of the face, and therefore it is incomplete, a fractional part of the whole, and as a substitute for the whole utterly unreliable. It has been well said that the telltale body is all tongues, but the revelation given by one or two tongues is not to be taken for the revelation of the whole. Each tongue tells its own part of the great truth, but the chief tongues are those of the head, for these united bring us from empiricism to science. The observations of the bodily system are all empirical, but certainly not unworthy of the