After discussing Lavater's place in eighteenth-century German letters and his importance in the history of Western physiognomy, Dr. Tytler examines the literary portrait in the modern novel and suggests that the development of techniques of character description and the growth of observational powers of narrators and characters alike, as manifest in fiction from the 1790s onward, may be more fully appreciated when considered in the light of the physiognomical background previously delineated. Originally published in 1982. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

"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.

When nineteenth-century Londoners looked at each other, what did they see, and how did they want to be seen? Sharrona Pearl reveals the way that physiognomy, the study of facial features and their relationship to character, shaped the way that people understood one another and presented themselves. Physiognomy was initially a practice used to get information about others, but soon became a way to self-consciously give information--on stage, in print, in images, in research, and especially on the street. Moving through a wide range of media, Pearl shows how physiognomical notions rested on instinct and honed a kind of shared subjectivity. She looks at the stakes for framing physiognomy--a practice with a long history--as a science in the nineteenth century. By showing how physiognomy gave people permission to judge others, Pearl holds up a mirror both to Victorian times and our own.