The man of genius
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- London: Walter Scott, 1891
London: Walter Scott, 1891. FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH. Complete with the large folding map. Publisher’s cloth, gilt lettering on front cover and spine; front joint loose, otherwise a fine copy. First edition in English of Lombroso’s main work on which he built his criminal anthropological theories. Included is the frontispiece map of famous painters and musicians.
Lombroso’s theory of anthropological criminology essentially states that criminality is inherited, and that someone who would be “born criminal” can be identified by physical (congenital) defects, which confirms a criminal as savage or atavistic. Lombroso believed that genius was an evolutionary beneficial form of insanity, stemming from the same root as other mental illnesses. He here argues that artistic genius is a form of hereditary insanity. In order to classify geniuses as “degenerate” or insane, Lombroso judged each genius by whether they exhibited degenerate symptoms such as precocity, longevity, versatility and inspiration. Lombroso supplemented these psychological observations with skeletal and cranial measurements, including facial angles, abnormalities in bone structure, and volumes of brain fluid. He connects geniuses to various health disorders as well by listing signs of degeneration, some of which include abnormalities and discrepancies in height and pallor. The book points out neurosis and insanity in genius, insanity in art and literature, and the influence of race and heredity in determining genius and insanity. To this extent he was following in the footsteps of Galton’s statistical work with hereditary genius.
His list of geniuses, both those who descended into degenerative states and those who did not, is quite enlightening.
Lombroso’s theory of anthropological criminology essentially states that criminality is inherited, and that someone who would be “born criminal” can be identified by physical (congenital) defects, which confirms a criminal as savage or atavistic. Lombroso believed that genius was an evolutionary beneficial form of insanity, stemming from the same root as other mental illnesses. He here argues that artistic genius is a form of hereditary insanity. In order to classify geniuses as “degenerate” or insane, Lombroso judged each genius by whether they exhibited degenerate symptoms such as precocity, longevity, versatility and inspiration. Lombroso supplemented these psychological observations with skeletal and cranial measurements, including facial angles, abnormalities in bone structure, and volumes of brain fluid. He connects geniuses to various health disorders as well by listing signs of degeneration, some of which include abnormalities and discrepancies in height and pallor. The book points out neurosis and insanity in genius, insanity in art and literature, and the influence of race and heredity in determining genius and insanity. To this extent he was following in the footsteps of Galton’s statistical work with hereditary genius.
His list of geniuses, both those who descended into degenerative states and those who did not, is quite enlightening.
Details
Title
The man of genius
Author
LOMBROSO, Cesare
Condition
Unknown
Publisher
Walter Scott: London
Date
1891
Edition
FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH