Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
01.C.82 |
Object Name |
Plate, Printing |
Title |
Fowler's Phrenological Head Printing Plate |
Artist |
Unknown |
Date |
mid-19th c. |
Description |
Printing plate advertising "Fowler's Phrenological Head." A zinc copper-faced rectangular printing plate. At the very top of the plate is an engraving of a human head profile showcasing the brain. Directly underneath the head is "Prof. O.S. FOWLER", backwards, and underneath is the rest of an advertisement discussing the work of phrenologist Orson Squire Fowler. |
Label |
This printing block was used to make advertisements for Orson Squire Fowler, a well-known 19th-century phrenologist. At the time, phrenology was a widespread pseudoscience. Phrenologists claimed that the size and shape of a person's head, and the bumps on its surface, revealed personality and character. As this ad notes, "PHRENOLOGY furnishes it in showing...how strong, how weak each mental faculty, every physical organ, and how to cultivate and restrain all. Its results are RELIABLE because SCIENTIFIC." Both Fowler and his brother, Lorenzo Niles Fowler, popularized the use of three-dimensional phrenological heads that depicted different regions of the brain and their corresponding traits. They postulated that such traits could be strengthened or weakened through mental exercises. The Fowler brothers studied the heads of celebrities such as Mormon leader Brigham Young, pioneering nurse Clara Barton, and poet Walt Whitman. Orson Fowler opened a Phrenological Museum in Philadelphia in 1839 and published a journal on the subject. He later moved his museum to New York City, where it rivaled P. T. Barnum's in popularity. Fowler also lectured around the country, gave public character readings, and advised people on improving their marriages and raising healthy children (mentioned here as areas of expertise). Since this advertisement cites Fowler's 50 years of experience, it probably dates from the late 19th century. |
Material |
Zinc (copper-faced) |
Dimensions |
W-4.25 L-11.5 inches |
Credit line |
American Philosophical Society |
Search Terms |
19th century nineteenth century printing science advertising |