Physiognomy was the art of interpreting people’s character and life prospects by looking at the features of the body, drawing on the theory that God’s providential plan was writ in every element of the natural world. Facial features, moles and lines on the body were all potentially instructive. Guides to practising physiognomy were published in cheap pamphlets, and it might be practised by cunning-folk and travelling ‘gypsy’ fortune-tellers.

Physiognomy drew on the long-standing notion that the outer form of the body expressed the nature of the soul. Early modern society commonly framed deformities or disabilities as divine punishments, while beauty was associated with virtue. References to physiognomy in literary works and cheap pamphlets were often light-hearted, but ascribing meaning to the idiosyncrasies of bodies and faces nonetheless threatened to entrench social division.

In the nineteenth century, European scientists theorised physiognomy more extensively, and it became highly racially charged. Like phrenology (the practice of examining the shape of the skull), physiognomy was co-opted to explain the supposed superiority of Caucasians. In the early modern period physiognomy was usually not as overtly racist, but treatises on the subject often reinforced European beauty standards, favouring ‘delicate’ features such as thin lips.