Lavater's Essays on Physiognomy, London, 1797, Vol. 1, Loaded with Engravings made in India Richer and more beautiful in

Richer and more beautiful in person

near-horizontal branch coming in from the right is of a very old Oak

All of this adds up to one of my very favorite finds of late

as a few curls in front open to the sides

85 Piazza di Spagna on reverse

Lavater's Essays on Physiognomy, London, 1797, Vol. 1, Loaded with Engravings made in India Richer and more beautiful inThis is a very rare 1797 first edition English translation (published in London) of Johann Kaspar Lavater's "Essays on Physiognomy Calculated to Extend the Knowledge and the Love of Mankind" volume one (of four volumes.) Lavater (1741 1801) was a Swiss poet, writer, philosopher, theologian, and physiognomist, credited with being the first to introduce the idea that physiognomy related to the specific character traits of individuals, rather than