Fascinating read by George Combe (1788-1858). He was a significant figure in the phrenological movement, having founded the Edinburgh Phrenological Society in 1820. The present work was his most significand and influential, exhausting multiple editions in the England and America.
The Oxford DNB article notes that Combe's messages of individualism and his goal of improving the human condition resonated deeply with the reading public. Although Combe advocated "set" problems of humanity, largely determined through phrenology, he also wrote, with more hope than most in the field, that those in lower-classes and phrenologically disadvantaged could improve their fortunes through education and better societal treatment.
He also advocated strongly for the end of capital and corporal punishment and believed prison reform ought to be tailored towards a person's mind, not the punishment of their physical body. Combe was a comprehensive thinker and offered a multi-layered vision of how the world works and how it could be made better for humanity.
Combe, George. The Constitution of Man Considered in Relation to External Objects. Boston. Sanborn, Carter, and Bazin. 1856. 396pp.
Good - to fair, cloth worn with chipping at head as shown, foxed and toned with tidemark at upright corner. That said, solid and very usable with a few period marginal notes generally in pencil.
