Phrenological illustrations published by Fowler and Wells and others allowed untrained Americans to conduct their own phrenological readings. One contemporary reviewer explained, “The author’s mode of treating the subject is illustrated, and rendered very intelligible, by a plate of the human head having the organs delineated” (“The Phrenological System'). It provided a useful map of the locations on the skull discussed in phrenological tracts. SignificanceThe mapped head was associated with phrenology from its earliest publications throughout the nineteenth century.

An individual with a large organ of approbativeness “is extremely sensitive upon every point connected with his honour, his character, his reputation, &c., and, in all he does, will have an eye to the approbation and the disapprobation of his fellow men” (Fowler 108). The description of the organ of approbativeness, for example, is given six pages. Furthermore, Fowler expanded the discussion of organs of phrenology his descriptions span nearly 150 pages. The work also included letters objecting to phrenological truths, accompanied by Fowler's own responses in defence of those truths. Fowler also expanded on the work of British phrenologists, discussing physiognomy as well as its sub-science phrenology, providing accounts of the effects of diet and habit on an individual’s character, offering clear directions for the process of phrenological examination, and narrating accounts of successful examinations. An examination of Fowler’s handbook reveals the extent to which he drew on these preceding thinkers: the names, locations, and descriptions of the organs of interest to phrenology are similar, as is the larger discussion on the uses of phrenology. The book, which had sold almost ten thousand copies by 1841, incorporated the work of Franz Joseph Gall, Johann Spurzheim, George Combe, and others into a single comprehensive guide to phrenology (“Article VI” 187). Fowler’s handbook was described by one reviewer as “the best work now extant on the elementary principles and practical part of the science” (“Article VI” 187).

Phrenology by Orson Squire Fowler