Phrenological bust by LN FowlerPhrenological bust by LN FowlerThe History of Phrenology on the Web

by John van Wyhe


Other web sites concerned with phrenology

-Talking Heads: Phrenology at the Countway Library of Medicine 2002. Images of materials in their collection.

-The lost museum archive. Images and a few text extracts.

-The Brontës and Phrenology by Peter Friesen contains, in addition to his excellent hypertext of Combe's Elements of Phrenology, a phrenologist's character reading of Charlotte Brontë. One of the very few sites on phrenology really worth visiting.

-Walt Whitman and Phrenology: A valuable site & worth a visit. Modest bibliography and analysis- includes text and colour images of a pamphlet by L.N. Fowler- which is very well done.

-Reading Heads and Ruling Passions, by the Macleay Museum. Very good overview of phrenology across the world- including America. Includes some unique extracts from primary documents.

-Images Related to Phrenology and Physiognomy by Ross Woodrow part of the Archive of 19th-century racial images at The University of Newcastle. Brief reviews of several primary sources containing many fine physiognomical and phrenological images pertaining to race and especially Camper's facial angle and extensive extracts from primary texts. Useful and informative paragraphs on the American phrenological Fowler family and their publications and thorough internet links with reliable commentary. Probably the largest website on physiognomy and representation. Definitely worth a visit.

-Phrenology and the Fine Arts at The Boston College Fine Arts Department; draws on Charles Colbert's book, A Measure of Perfection, Phrenology and the Fine Arts in America (1997). Nice collection of American phrenological images from S. Wells, New Physiognomy, or Signs of Character, (NY, 1871) and a phrenological bust with clickable organs.

-Franz Josef Gall Gall's contributions to the study of aphasia.

-Phrenology in America an undergraduate essay by Matthew C. Vukin (1998).

-Phrenology: The Science of the Mind? an undergraduate essay by Tammy Lechner (2000).

-Brain imaging: Is it the new phrenology?, Daniel Waddle, Department of Psychology, Hanover College.

-Phrenology and Education (restricted access). By Stephen Tomlinson of the University of Alabama. A three-page essay on Combe, Mann, and Spencer. Aims to reveal the extent early educational activists were inspired by phrenology. He is currently writing a book entitled: Phrenology and Education: The Theory and Practice of Christian Eugenics.

-Law and Phrenology. By Pierre Schlag of the University of Colorado at Boulder. A perceptive and well-researched essay discussing phrenology and American law.

-a 19th century phrenological reading form for Leslie Smith.

-Robert H. Wozniak, 'Mind, Brain, and Adaptation: the Localization of Cerebral Function' in his Mind and Body: René Descartes to William James (etext 1993) (draws heavily on Robert M. Young's, Mind, Brain, and Adaptation), however a nice overview rich with names and dates. Traduccin en Espa ol.

-Renato Sabbatini's Phrenology: the History of Brain Localization (also published in the E-journal Brain and Mind, March 1997, by State University of Campinas, Brazil.) Provides the 'helped to push science forward' interpretation of phrenology's role in the history of cerebral localization. Good analysis of Gall's thought though misconstrues the relationship between Gall & Spurzheim. Nice images.

-Phrenology on the Web If you don't believe anyone still espouses phrenology- visit this large and detailed site in Belgium.

-Phrenology. The relevance of phrenology for the evolution of modern neuroscience favourably reviewed.

-The definition of phrenology provided in the on-line Skeptic's Dictionary by Robert Todd Carroll is useful and concise with a few helpful links for further reading.

-Ellen black and phrenology - The phrenological remarks of a 19th century American religious visionary.

-AliasM / Marc Renneville "- histoire de la criminologie, de la médecine,de la psychiatrie, de la phrénologie et de l'anthropologie criminelle.Présentation des cours et des publications de Marc Renneville. Livres,articles (extrait ou publication intégrale). Petite BibliothèqueVirtuelle contenant des documents historiques"

-Phrenology by Steven Novella (neuroscientist). Teleologically written as if Gall were an early neuroscientist working to found modern neuroscience. More of a pat on the back for neuroscience and a stab at contemporary advocates of "scientific phrenology" (if there are any) than a description of phrenology.

-See Malcom Macmillan's website on Phineas Gage.

See also:

Brain links and Busts

Other historical sources on-line and Other phrenological texts on-line

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© John van Wyhe 1999-2011. Materials on this website may not be reproduced without permission except for use in teaching or non-published presentations, papers/theses.