Gallery of Heads

Gallery of Heads. Alfred Crowquil. Wood engraving by the Dalziels. 2 x 3 inches William Combe, The Tour of Dr Syntax, 295. This illustration, which provides a good example of Crowquill’s interest in physiognomy, juxtaposes a variety of facial types, from the long-nosed character one from the right to the heavy-jowls of the man in the centre. Though unfamiliar to modern readers, this pseudo-classification was a short-hand way of representing personality, inscribing traits of mind in the text of portraiture.

Scanned image and text by Simon Cooke. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]

Bibliography

Combe, William. The Tour of Dr Syntax. London: Ackermann & Tegg, 1854.


Created 6 June 2017