Constitution Man Relation External Objects by George Combe, First Edition (5 results)

Condition: New. This controversial book, by a prominent Scottish phrenologist, was one of the top best-sellers of Victorian England. Series: Cambridge Library Collection - Science and Religion. Num Pages: 336 pages, black & white illustrations. BIC Classification: JFCX. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational. Dimension: 216 x 140 x 19. Weight in Grams: 430. . 2009. 1st Edition. paperback. . . . .

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. FIRST EDITION. Leather-bound; hardcover; octavo (18.5 x 11 x 2 cm); pp. xii, 319. English text. Bound in contemporary half calf; spine gilt; marbled paper-covered boards; printed footnotes; tables in the text; rear appendix. Printed by P. Neill. Condition: VERY GOOD. Binding tight, secure, and square. Covers well-preserved with some light rubbing to boards. Interior with some light scattered foxing, the title-page with a small erasure hole to head. An excellent first edition copy of this scarce title. Notes: First edition of George Combe's landmark 19th-century work that popularised phrenology and argued that human happiness depends on conforming to natural laws. Combe proposed that physical, organic, and moral laws govern existence, and understanding these dictates behavioural, educational, and moral improvements. Combe founded the Edinburgh Phrenological Society in 1820. Jacyna calls this book his most important and influential work. Cooter 238.47. Oxford DNB, L. S. Jacyna, "Combe [Comb], George (17881858)".

Hardcover. Condition: Fair. No Jacket. 1st Edition. John Anderson Jun. Edinburgh .; Longman & Co. And Simpkin Marshall & Co. London; And Hodges & Smith Dublin. Printed: Edinburgh: Neill & Co. 1835 First edition harback half leather xii 446 pages some illustrations, book is partially detached from spine, rubbing to boards address to fep and foxing to extremeties and some pages but still in good tight clean reading order. Full refund if not satisfied. 24 hour despatch via tracked. If not pictured in this listing, a scan of the actual book is available on request.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. 4 items in one: ix, 154; 92; 94; vii, 110 p. 24 cm. Frontispiece portrait, title page vignette to first item; fold-out map of Polynesia; numerous smaller b&w drawings; two more maps as frontispiece to Neff item and further b&w drawings in text of last item. Half leather with puce paper boards. Some wear to corners, tears in hinges, spots to paper. Occasional foxing. Second item has darkened title page in which someone has pencilled "by Gen. T. P. Thompson." Second item includes "The Article on Free Trade, From the Westminster Review, No. XXIII. For January, 1830" with separate title page and illustration but continuous pagination. One page tore slightly when cut. Ink signature at top of title page for last item. Second item was written by one of the major campaigners against the Corn Laws; it includes "A List of Fallacies and the Answers." First item is twenty-fifth thousand, Second item an 18th edition, Last item a fourth edition.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. First edition. 12mo. [3], viii-xii, [1], 2-319, [2], 2-4 (pages of publisher's advertisements), [2] pp. Later half sheep, polished and dyed green over marbled boards with the spine in five compartments, gold decorations and a maroon morocco label lettered in gold on the spine; all edges sprinkled. Later brown endpapers and pastedowns. With the original endleaves bound in. Cooter 238.47. Oxford DNB, L. S. Jacyna, "Combe [Comb], George (17881858)". A major figure in phrenology, Combe founded the Edinburgh Phrenological Society in 1820. Jacyna calls this book his most important and influential work, and records that it sold hundreds of thousands of copies throughout the nineteenth century. The Oxford DNB article notes that Combe's messages of individualism and his goal of improving the human condition resonated deeply with the reading public. Although Combe advocates certain problematic doctrines of phrenology, like a person's aptitude being determined by their brain shape and size, he also writes that those in lower-class upbringings can improve their fortunes with education and better societal treatment. He also advocates strongly for the end of capital and corporal punishment, and believes prison reform ought to be tailored towards a person's mind, not the punishment of their physical body. Finally, this publication drew criticism from the English clergy as the role of the divine is not at all discussed in the natural laws or in the human physiology that Combe outlines in his book. Combe instead offers a secular vision of how the world works and how it could be made better for human beings. A small chip to the spine label, a later bookplate on the front pastedown, an ink note on the free front endpaper.