Spurzheim’s “Phrenology” and Gall in Britain

Abstract

Although the British were kept aware of Gall’s doctrine from 1800 on, their reactions to it were muted until Spurzheim left him, made his way to London in 1814, and immediately began to promote what would soon become known as “phrenology” (a term he did not coin but began to use in 1818) in books and lecture-demonstrations throughout the British Isles. Anxious to stand out on his own after first associating himself with his more famous mentor, Spurzheim took it upon himself to modify Gall’s system, renaming some of the 27 faculties, adding a few new ones, and reclassifying them in what he considered a superior way. His first books appeared in English in 1815, and he was prolific. Gall was so bothered by the inroads Spurzheim was making that he visited London in 1823 to set the record straight. To his dismay, his lectures were not well attended and he cut his tour short. Spurzheim engaged in some well-covered debates with John Gordon, who considered the doctrine “a collection of mere absurdities,” and later with William Hamilton in Edinburgh. He also found a disciple in Edinburgh, George Combe, whose efforts would lead to the first phrenological society and journal, and in 1828 (the year of Gall’s death) a best-selling book, his Constitution of Man.