Browse Items (21 total)

A plaster mold of the head of William Burke after his public execution in 1829 for the "anatomy murders." Burke was named by his accomplices as the head of the body-snatching, black-market trade that supplied the Edinburgh's medical school with…

This depicts the brain split into 33 parts or organs that contain qualities such as hope and wit.

The image shows three examples of phrenologic traits associated with insanity. On the left is a mentally defective person, and in the middle is a mad woman. The final sketching is of French murderer P.F. Lacenaire.

According to the London Science Museum, "Pierre Francois Lacenaire (1800-36) was a notorious French killer. He was executed by guillotine in March 1836. A plaster copy was made of his head after his death. This was collected by Dr Gachet (1828-1909),…

A sculpture of a head that is sectioned into different pieces to help in the study of skull size affecting a person's character

Phrenological chart of Gall, Eustache, and Chauffron. Gall was a German anatomist and physiologist who created phrenology. According to the Wellcome Library, Eustache was a "a slave from the Dominican republic who came to be awarded a 'prize for…

The definition of Phrenology as defined in the Webster's Academic Dictionary, circa 1895.

"Brass frame 15x14 inches with all sorts of scales extending out in all directions in one plane. Many of the scales have movable calipers or arms. There are also two other calipers in the case. Some of the scales are marked in centimeters. The screw…

This Phrenological head shows all of the different personality areas of the head according to theories about the different head sizes and regions.