Phrenology cast of skull of Johann Gaspar Spurzheim, 1848
Description:
Plaster phrenology cast of skull of Johann Gaspar Spurzheim (1776-1832). Cast is white and tan in color and shows entire skull of Spurzheim, including teeth. Cast is seated on round pedestal base and has recangular nameplate below mandible.
The Harvard Medical Library does not hold copyright on all the materials in the collection. For use information, contact the Warren Anatomical Museum Curator at chm@hms.harvard.edu
Contact host institution for more information.
Notes:
This cast was taken in 1848 by Nathaniel B. Shurtleff (1810-1874). Dr. Spurzheim, a leader in the study of phrenology, brought his knowledge and cast collection to America in 1832. After his death, the newly formed Boston Phrenological Society possessed his collection of skulls and casts. Dr. John Collins Warren purchased the collection in 1847 after the Society’s dissolution. In 1849, Dr. Warren took physical custody of the collection and temporarily transferred it to the Warren Museum of Natural History on Chestnut Street, before moving the collection to its intended permanent location in the new medical school building on North Grove Street. The phrenological collection was left in the basement of the old Medical School building on North Grove Street when the Medical College moved to a different building on Boylston Street in 1880. In 1911, the North Grove Street building was being demolished and the collection was almost destroyed. Dr. R. H. Fitz intervened and the collection was moved to the Administrative Building of the Harvard Medical School.
