LAVATER (J.-K.). Essai de physiognomonie, destiné à faire connaître l'Homme et à le faire aimer. The Hague, [Jacques Van Karnebeek], [1781]-1783-1786-1803. 4 vols. large in-4° bound in garnet half-maroquin, spines gilt and decorated (period binding). Vol 1: [1] f., X, 294 pp, [2] ff, Vol 2: VIII, 404 pp, [1] f., Vol 3: VIII, 360 pp, [1] f., Vol 4: VIII, 328 pp. With 192 plates (out of 193) out of text after D. Chodowiecki, J. R. Schellenberg, Rubens, Jacob Merz, Johann Heinrich Lips, nearly 500 engravings in text and 4 title vignettes. First edition of the first French translation of this important essay originally published in German. Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741-1801) remains today the leading authority on physiognomy, a discipline with ancient roots that was theorised as early as Aristotle, revived in the Middle Ages in the Secret of Secrets and systematised in the Renaissance by Giambattista della Porta. But it was Lavater who, in the 18th century, gave this "science" a modern and popular form. He defined it as "the science, the knowledge of the relationship that links the exterior to the interior, the visible surface to what it covers with the invisible. In a narrow sense, physiognomy refers to the air and features of the face, and physiognomy to the knowledge of facial features and their meaning". Charming copy with large margins, a few brown spots on the ff. and a few plates, one plate missing from vol. 1 Good condition Binding : Very good condition Inside pages: Light foxing to some plates Rare and tiny tears at the corners of the pages Several numbering errors Collation: Vol 1: Pages: [1] f., X, 294 pp, [2] ff. Plates: 14 In-text engravings: 83 Title vignette: 1 Vol 2: Pages: VIII, 404 pp, [1] f. Plates: 77 (instead of 78) In-text engravings: 162 Title Vignette: 1 Vol 3: Pages: VIII, 360 pp, [1] f. Plates: 53 In-text engraving: 144 Title Vignette: 1 Vol 4: Pages: VIII, 328 pp. Plates: 48 Engraving in-text: 113 Title Vignette: 1