[Phrenology] Combe. The Constitution of Man considered in Relation to External Objects

Combe, George; Warne, Joseph A. The Constitution of Man considered in Relation to External Objects; with an Additional Chapter on the Harmony between Phrenology and Revelation, by Joseph A. Warne. Boston: William D. Ticknor, 1841. Tenth American from the latest English Edition, Corrected and Enlarged. [10251]

Black blindstamped cloth, gilt titles to spine, small stain or rough blotch middle of spine, light spotting elsewhere, 7 1/2 x 5 inches, tight. xii., 412 pp., index, illustrations. Foxing throughout. Good. Hardcover.

George Combe (1788-1858), b. Edinburgh, Scotland; d. Surrey, England. Combe was a lawyer who devoted his career to the promotion of phrenology. His beginnings in this field was to give twice weekly lectures at his home, and to collect casts of heads. The book offered for sale here began as a collection of lectures offered in Edinburgh in the winter of 1826-7, later greatly expanded.

He founded the Edinburgh Phrenological Society in 1820 and published his widely-popular The Constitution of Man in 1828. The book was denounced as materialist and atheist in philosophy, but is credited with successfully promoting naturalistic progressivism in the decades leading to Darwin's publication of On the Origin of Species. It has been said that his main argument in the book is "Mental qualities are determined by the size, form and constitution of the brain; and these are transmitted by hereditary descent." 

In this book Combe applies the philosophy of Locke to the study of science, in much the same way that others applied it to the study of politics. His one theme is that of phrenology as a Natural Law which is the key to all philosophical and social problems, and the means of providing human happiness.

The additional chapter in this edition, supplied by Rev. Joseph A. Warne, is an attempt to reconcile evangelical Christianity with the science of phrenology, entitled "On the Relation between Science and Scripture."