Physiognomy in profile

"Johann Caspar Lavater's richly illustrated Physiognomische Fragmente was published in Germany between 1775-78 and was rapidly translated into the major European languages. Presenting his theories on how the configuration of facial features may be held to show qualities of mind or character, Lavater's work triggered a "physiognomical frenzy" (to quote his adversary Georg Christoph Lichtenberg) in late eighteenth-century Europe, and people are said to have chosen their spouses and servants according to his precepts.". "Physiognomy in Profile affirms and assesses Lavater's contribution to European culture in the two hundred years after his death. It examines how Lavater's vision of physiognomy as a viable method of interpreting the modern world has been repeatedly affirmed and challenged. Previous monographs on Lavater have tended to focus on one particular theme, discipline, or historical period, but this study deliberately adopts a cross-disciplinary approach, and covers a broad historical time frame. Some widely different material is juxtaposed (painting, photography, fiction, journalism, medical texts) in order to explore recurring issues in physiognomical thought.". "Essays are arranged in chronological order so that the reader can gain a sense of the shared preoccupations of Lavater's contemporaries and successors. But the book may also be read thematically."--BOOK JACKET.