Author, editor, public lecturer, and prominent American advocate of phrenology during the 19th century. Fowler was born near Cohocton, New York, and grew up in a semi-frontier setting under the watchful eye of a stern, Congregationalist father. Originally slated for a career in the ministry, Fowler became interested in phrenology while a college student at Amherst. On graduating in 1834, he and his younger brother Lorenzo began to lecture on the new “mental science” and related subjects around the country. Eventually the two settled in New York City and, with their brother-in-law, Samuel Wells, set up a combination museum, publishing house, and head-reading salon that became the center of the American phrenological movement. Besides giving individual personality readings according to the shape of the head, Fowler and Wells published the very popular American Phrenological Journal (in print from 1838 to 1910) and set up a lucrative mail-order business in phrenological literature and paraphernalia. Though Fowler’s written work is now forgotten by all but collectors and historians, in his day his books almost always sold well, and a few went through as many as 40 editions. Most were priced low and appealed primarily to artisans and the rapidly growing middle classes. In addition to his phrenological interests, Fowler also wrote books on architecture, edited another journal (on water cures), lectured on human sexuality, and set up a marriage-counseling business.
During its heyday in the 1840s and 1850s, the firm of Fowler and Wells also became a clearinghouse for a variety of reform efforts including vegetarianism, water cures, the antitobacco crusade, temperance, and the movement against tight corsets for women. Fowler supported all zealously at his frequent lectures on the Chautaqua circuit and in his voluminous writings. He was also sympathetic to the nascent women’s rights movement and the antislavery cause.