Lavater's Essays on Physiognomy

These studies demonstrate the breadth, persistance, and impact of the distribution of Lavater's «Essays on Physiognomy». The evidence suggests that no literate person in England or France could have escaped knowing the work either directly or indirectly. Many artists and novelists drew on the lavishly illustrated volumes to support their own concepts and use of the pseudo-science, and so the work helped change the forms of art. Even the most skeptical readers who rejected Lavater's specific analyses nevertheless would confess «there's something to physiognomy». An old «science» was returned to prominence through Johann Caspar Lavater's «Essays on Physiognomy».