Essai sur la physiognomonie : destiné a faire connoître l'homme & à le faire aimer
Lavater's 1781 Essai sur la physiognomonie, printed at The Hague, is a treatise on physiognomy meant to help readers know and love mankind, made for a general educated readership. Its pictures are profile portraits of faces and heads in pen or engraved line, with varied hair, noses and expressions, showing a designer how a silhouette can carry character through contour, curl and shading.
