Mark Twain, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, and the Head Readers
Mark Twain, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, and the Head Readers
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GBPHaving a phrenological 'head reading' was one of the most significant fads of the nineteenth century – a means for better knowing oneself and a guide for self-improvement. Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) had a lifelong yet long overlooked interest in phrenology, the pseudoscience claiming to correlate skull features with specialized brain areas and higher mental traits. Twain's books are laced with phrenological terms and concepts, and he lampooned the head readers in Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. He was influenced by Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, who also used his humor to assail head readers and educate the public. Finger shows that both humorists accepted certain features of phrenology, but not their skull-based ideas. By examining a fascinating topic at the intersection of literature and the history of neuroscience, this engaging study will appeal to readers interested in phrenology, science, medicine, American history, and the lives and works of Twain and Holmes.
- Presents Samuel Clemens's (Mark Twain's) lifelong interest in phrenology and shows what shaped his opinions, often presented humorously
- Shows how phrenology also entered into Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes's life, and how his writings influenced what Clemens (Twain) wrote about phrenology and its purveyors
- Shows how scientific and medical fads can be more fully understood by looking at novels and other writings for the laity, and how humor can be used as a weapon to sway public opinion
Reviews & endorsements
'The book contains valuable additions to knowledge … This carefully researched, meticulously documented study will be of interest to students of literary and cultural history as well as to scholars of the history of science … Highly recommended.' J. D. Vann, Choice
'Finger delivers a bicycle tour of phrenology, its bizarre methodology, the arcane terms invented by its practitioners, and the flaps that beset it. His expertise in neurology enables him to offer unusual observations. Combining information on three topics - Mark Twain, Holmes, and the history of phrenology - his book energetically examines connections that remind cultural historians how easily pseudoscientific movements can mislead the populace.' Alan Gribben, American Literary Realism
Product details
April 2023Hardback
9781009301299
332 pages
235 × 160 × 26 mm
0.65kg
Available
Table of Contents
- List of Figures
- Preface
- 1. The birth of a controversial doctrine
- 2. Coming to America
- 3. Skeptical in Hannibal
- 4. The river, the west, and phrenology abroad
- 5. Mark Twain's 'small test'
- 6. Tom, Huck, and the head readers
- 7. More head readings and a phrenological farewell
- 8. Young Holmes and phrenology in Boston
- 9. An American in Paris
- 10. Quackery and Holmes's head reading
- 11. Holmes's professor on 'bumpology'
- 12. Holmes's 'medicated novels'
- 13. Mr. Clemens and Dr. Holmes
- 14. Phrenology assessed
- Epilogue
- References
- Index.
