Die Kunst die Männer aus ihren Gesichtszügen zu erkennen. Ein physiognomisches Taschenbuch nach Lavater's Grundsätzen [...] Zweyte verbesserte Auflage. by Lavater, Johann Caspar - 1815

12mo (13,5 x 9,5 cm). 52, [8] pp. With hand-coloured etched/aquatint frontispiece portrait of Lavater, and 32 hand-coloured etched/aquatint portraits.

Modern half calf, marbled sides. With deaccession stamps on title-page and the back of the frontispiece. Title-page and frontispiece slightly soiled. The quires have been oversewn and, reducing the inner margins as a result.

A popular introduction to male physiognomy, based on Johann Caspar Lavater's work.

After a short introduction discussing forehead, eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth, chin, hair, and neck, 32 hand-coloured plates with descriptive text follow, identifying personal characteristics with various facial features.

Prompted by Lavater's work, physiognomy was all the rage in the 18th century, resulting in a myriad of publications on the subject. This pocket-sized German vademecum, published in present-day Budapest, is surprisingly rare on the market.

It was translated from the French (Le Lavater portatif ou précis de l'art de connaitre les hommes par les traits du visage), and first published in 1813; this is the second edition.


WorldCat lists three copies only, in Zürich, Coburg and Darmstadt; ; HPB Database adds a fourth.