7th baronet; FRS 1815, FRSE 1799; mineralogist and geologist; VP Roy Soc of Antiquaries of Scotland and pres Astronomical Inst, Edin; M Br Assn; friend and pupil of the mineralogist and founder of the Wernerian Nat Hist Soc, Robert Jameson; played an important part in a geological expedition to Iceland, of which he left an account; translated, in 1821, W. Harnish's High German account of John ROSS'S 1818 trip to Iceland and Bay of Baffin in search of the northwest passage; became interested in phrenology during the GORDON/SPURZHEIM debates in Edin, 1817, during which time he was delivering to the Roy Soc of Edin the parts of what would become the Essay on Taste; a convincing phrenological delineation of his head in 1818 cemented his faith in phrenology; an early member of the EDIN PHREN SOC; close friend of the COMBES, supplying G. COMBE with a testimonial on phrenology, 1836; turned to mesmerism, 1843; proposed the PHREN ASSN in 1835 and resigned from it in 1842; amassed a large collection of skulls and was the main force behind establishing the phrenological museum in Edin; lectured on phrenology to his tenants at Dingwall, 1822, on phrenology and education in Jersey Mechanics' Inst, 1839, and in Royal Yacht Club, 1840. (DNB)
Works as Listed by Roger Cooter (1989)
715.1
— 715.1 An Essay on Some Subjects Connected with Taste. Edin: printed, 1817. Pp. 301. (Reviewed PHREN J, 3 [1825/6]: 437-56.) 2nd edn: The Theory of Taste founded on association, tested by an appeal to facts. Edin: Maclachlan, Stewart & Co, 1842. Pp. 200. (Reviewed PHREN J, 15 [1842]: 262.)
715.2
— 715.2 Illustrations of Phrenology, with engravings. Edin: A. Constable & Co, 1820. (Dedicated to SPURZHEIM; reviewed in PHREN J, 3 [1825/6]: 437-56.)
715.3
— 715.3 "Remarks on the Case of John Bellingham, the Assassin of Mr. Perceval," TRANS [EDIN] PHREN SOC, [1] (1823): 339-62.
715.4
— 715.4 "Observations on the Skull of a Woman of the Cow-Pasture Tribe, New Holland," PHREN J, 2 (1824/5): 132-4.
715.5
— 715.5 "Letter on the Perception of Force," PHREN J, 4 (1826/7): 284-8.
715.6
— 715.6 "Essay Read to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, January 1830," PHREN J, 6 (1829/30): 332-43, 354-62. (First expression of phrenology in the Roy Soc; on the first occasion Sir Walter Scott was in the chair; on the second occasion the chair was occupied by Dr. Hope, prof of chemistry. Hope's concluding speech and Mackenzie's reply were printed in the Scotsman and were reprinted here on pp. 362-4.)
715.7
— 715.7 "Correspondence between Sir G. S. Mackenzie and Dugald Stewart, 1821," PHREN J, 7 (1831/2): 303-9.
715.8
— 715.8 "Prospectus of a British Association for the Advancement of Mental Science," PHREN J, 9 (1834/6): 281-3.
715.9
— 715.9 "Letter from Sir George Mackenzie on Mr. Simpson's Views as to the Sense of Resistance," PHREN J, 9 (1834/6): 349-56.
715.10
— 715.10 General Observations on the Principles of Education: for the use of Mechanics' Institutions. Edin: John Anderson Jun, 1836. Pp. 95. (Also published in French at Tours, where Mackenzie was then living. Dedicated to the members of the Inverness Mechanics' Inst; reviewed PHREN J, 10 [1836/7]: 141-50 and vol 12 [1839]: 400.)
715.11
— 715.11 Documents laid before the Right Honourable Lord Glenelg, by George S. Mackenzie, bart, relative to the Convicts Sent to New South Wales. Edin: printed, Apr 1836. Pp. 52 (62 testimonials on the value of phrenology in general and for the classification, segregation and transportation of criminals in particular. Reprinted in the appendix to G. COMBE, System of Phrenology, 5th edn, 1853.)
715.13
— 715.13 "Speculations, occasioned by Mr. [Daniel] Noble's Paper on Quality of Brain, as influencing Functional Manifestations," PHREN J, 12 (1839): 331-9.
715.14
— 715.14 Three Lectures On the Insufficiency of Physical Facts for Establishing the Continued Existence of the Deity; and on the Superiority of the Proofs that May be Derived From the Structure of the Human Mind, and its Adaptation to the External World. For the use of Mechanics' Institutions. London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co; Edin: Maclachlan & Stewart, 1839. Pp. 69. (Reviewed PHREN J, 13 [1840]: 178.)
715.16
— 715.16 "The Split in the Phrenological Association--to editor," PHREN J, 15 (1842): 343-6. (Insists he cannot sign the 'Declaration of Expediency' that would hold the Assn together because it denies the existence of Mind.)
Roger Cooter, Phrenology in the British Isles (1989)
PDF page
222
Printed page
217
Database ID
2083
Original Transcription
715. MACKENZIE, Sir George Steuart (1780-1848), 7th baronet; FRS
1815, FRSE 1799; mineralogist and geologist; VP Roy Soc of Antiquaries
of Scotland and pres Astronomical Inst, Edin; M Br Assn; friend and
pupil of the mineralogist and founder of the Wernerian Nat Hist Soc,
Robert Jameson; played an important part in a geological expedition
to Iceland, of which he left an account; translated, in 1821, W.
Harnish's High German account of John ROSS'S 1818 trip to Iceland
and Bay of Baffin in search of the northwest passage; became interested in phrenology during the GORDON/SPURZHEIM debates in
Edin, 1817, during which time he was delivering to the Roy Soc of
Edin the parts of what would become the Essay on Taste; a convincing phrenological delineation of his head in 1818 cemented his faith
in phrenology; an early member of the EDIN PHREN SOC; close
friend of the COMBES, supplying G. COMBE with a testimonial on
phrenology, 1836; turned to mesmerism, 1843; proposed the PHREN
ASSN in 1835 and resigned from it in 1842; amassed a large collection of skulls and was the main force behind establishing the phrenological museum in Edin; lectured on phrenology to his tenants at
Dingwall, 1822, on phrenology and education in Jersey Mechanics'
Inst, 1839, and in Royal Yacht Club, 1840. (DNB)