SOURCE: Berland, K. J. L. “‘The Air of a Porter’: Lichtenberg and Lavater Test Physiognomy by Looking at Johnson.” Age of Johnson: A Scholarly Annual 10 (1999): 219-30.

In the following essay, Berland highlights Georg Christoph Lichtenberg's criticism of Lavater's physiognomy, using the example of Samuel Johnson to elucidate contradictions and weaknesses in Lavater's theory.

Johann Christoph Lavater, the great Swiss preacher and physiognomist, first introduced his Physiognomische Fragmente in 1775-78. His book took Europe by storm, and was speedily translated into many languages, including the English version, Essays on Physiognomy, Designed to Promote the Knowledge and Love of Mankind, first published in 1789,¹ and soon available in richly illustrated editions. The enthusiastic reception of the Fragmente has been well documented; for the purposes of this discussion it must suffice to say that practically every major figure of German letters greeted Lavater's observations with enthusiasm—Zimmerman, Füssli, Merck, Haller, Herder...