This rare scientific and medical booklet is dedicated to phrenology (or cranioscopy) based on the work of the famous Doctor Gall, published in Brussels by the Lithographie Royale de Jobard in 1828. This third posthumous edition, revised and augmented by Doctor Fossati, is a precious testimony to this 19th-century theory which sought to determine character and mental faculties from the shape of the skull (giving rise to the expression "having a bump for maths"). The work stands out for its fragile original provisional cover, adorned with a striking lithograph representing the "Skull of Napoleon". A rare, very evocative piece for a cabinet of curiosities or a collection of medical history.
✦ Estimated period: 1828 - 19th century ✦ Provenance: Brussels (Belgium) — Jobard Printing House ✦ Dimensions: approx. 15 x 10 cm ✦ Material: Period paper, stapled under lithographed provisional cover ✦ Condition: Collated and 100% complete copy (38 pages of text and 3 lithographed plates) - Antique condition preserved in its original state. Patinated paper with foxing throughout, light wear fringes and some small occasional losses. The double leaf of the first page as well as the last plate are detached from the central quire, but they are present. See photographs.
Old phrenology booklet from 1828, a sought-after testament to lithographed medical imagery and the era's fascination with the Napoleonic skull.
