Blake, Lavater, and Physiognomy

Sibylle Erle

• 1. Introduction 2. From Idea to Parameter: Good Copies 3. From Face to Vision: Good Likeness 4. From Face to Vision: Measuring the Soul 5. From Text to Image: Friendship and Memory in Aphorisms on Man 6. From Text to Image: Physiognomy and Embodiment in Aphorisms on Man 7. From Physiognomische Fragmente to Essays on Physiognomy: Editing 8. From Genesis to Blake's Creation Myth: Editing 9. Conclusion

Erle's conclusion is that Lavater could be seen by Blake to be superficial, and that Blake was more interested in showing how identity was constructed through the body, rather than through a given soul: bringing back the body means showing how that is connected to historical and material circumstances and culture operating, for instance, in the 1790s, the decade of Blake's creation myths. -- Modern Language Review Modern Language Review By developing this art-historical context [i.e., of Henry Fuseli], Erle produces many informative analyses of the ways in which both Blake's poetry and his prints reveal an abiding interest 'in how the human form acquires its embodied identity and the pitfalls inherent in likeness-making'. -- Studies in English Literature Studies in English Literature Erle deserves great credit for returning the role of Lavater to Blake studies - especially as Blake's interests in physiognomy remained with him all through his life, surfacing again in his late Visionary Heads-and her chapter on the editing that took place in transforming the Physiognomische Fragmente into the Essays on Physiognomy is a superb piece of scholarship on this often neglected text. -- Year's Work in English Studies Year's Work in English Studies