'A Phrenological Chart of Character', booklet, London, England, 1879-1921

"A Phrenological Chart of Character" pamphlet by Mr and Mrs Stackpool E O'Dell of the London Phrenological Institution recording a consultation by a Mr Goodman in 1921, recording character, health, diet and appropriate marriage partner

Phrenology was popular in the 1800s and the early 1900s. Phrenologists claimed that by feeling the lumps and bumps of the skull (and thus the underlying brain) they could determine someone’s character and personality. Although phrenology became popular with large numbers of people in the 1800s, it soon became controversial within medical circles, and was eventually dismissed by the medical profession as quackery. The subject was always controversial in medical circles. Titled A Phrenological Chart of Character, this booklet records a consultation given in 1921 at the London Phrenological Institution. Written by E Stackpool O’Dell, a phrenologist, and his wife, the booklet gives information about the person’s character, health, diet and appropriate marriage partner. The O’Dells set up the London Institute and Mr O’Dell sometimes styled himself as a “professor of phrenology”.