In this wide-ranging study of the intersections between visual and literary culture, Christopher J. Lukasik demonstrates how late 18th-century physiognomy transformed the relationship of facial characteristics to social distinction in early American culture.

Discerning Characters
The Culture of Appearance in Early America

Christopher J. Lukasik

2010 | 328 pages | Cloth $45.00
American History | Cultural Studies
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Table of Contents

Introduction 1

PART 1. DISTINCTION AND THE FACE
Chapter 1. Discerning Characters
Chapter 2. Reading and Breeding
Chapter 3. The Face of Seduction
Chapter 4. The Face of the Public

PART II. THE CHANGING FACE OF THE NOVEL
Chapter 5. The Invisible Aristocrat
Chapter 6. The Physiognomic Fallacy

Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography