By: HILOBROW

“Anyone with a head like the above is dangerous because Conscientiousness is weak and Amativeness very strong. In an immoral sense this man is positively dangerous.” *** According to Louis Allen Vaught, the purpose of […]

By: HILOBROW

By: HILOBROW

Meta-commentary: Researching pulp cover illustrations in which books are featured is exceedingly difficult. Try googling the phrases “book on book” or “book cover featuring book cover” some time, and see for yourself. *** Twelfth in […]

By: HILOBROW

“Young ladies, indelibly fix this shape of head in your memories. Any man who will make a natural, kind and true husband will have a head in outline from a side view like this.” *** […]

By: HILOBROW

“The reason this man is an unreliable husband is because he is very weak in Conjugality and Parental Love and exceedingly strong in Amativeness. Young ladies, beware such men as husbands.” *** According to Louis […]

By: HILOBROW

Scene from The 39 Steps (d. Hitchcock: 1935), in which Sheriff Watson (Frank Cellier) inspects a Church Hymnary that has stopped a bullet intended for Richard Hannay (Robert Donat). SHERIFF: [laughing] HANNAY: Cigarette cases, yes. […]

By: HILOBROW

“We affirm in the most absolute manner that words can be used that mother love is located exactly where this backhead projects most. To be a true, natural mother is to have this faculty highly […]

By: HILOBROW

This book-shaped object is a Tabloid-brand medicine box, manufactured by the British pharmaceuticals company Burroughs Wellcome & Co. During the early 20th century, the catch-phrase “Weapons of Precision” helped sell BWC’s medicine chests to British […]

By: HILOBROW

This holiday season, give someone you love a 2009 book written by one of HiLobrow.com’s talented contributors and friends. Buy books via Amazon.com’s Hermenautic Circle Store (links below) and we’ll rake in a percentage from […]

By: HILOBROW

“Why is this head and face the opposite of the masculine? Because the feminine faculties are predominant. There is a great vital truth right here.” *** According to Louis Allen Vaught, the purpose of Vaught’s […]

By: HILOBROW

HiLobrow.com is not opposed to the “guest blogger.” But it’s a waxy concept, sticky and vexing, isn’t it? Guests have been deployed by too many blogs for everything from vacation coverage to boredom-bandaging. Uncanny guests […]

By: HILOBROW

Readers! As you’ve noticed, we’ve recently redesigned HiLobrow.com. Many thanks to Rob Tourtelot, for all his work on our behalf. Why did we go from four to three boxes across on the homepage? Because we […]

By: HILOBROW

“It will pay all to remember the shape of this head and face.” *** According to Louis Allen Vaught, the purpose of Vaught’s Practical Character Reader (1902) is to acquaint readers “with the elements of […]

By: HILOBROW

House of Mystery #201 (April, 1972). Cover illustration by Michael Kaluta. *** Ninth in an occasional series.

By: HILOBROW

In this video, our friend Shelley Jackson reads aloud from HiLo Hero Flann O’Brien’s The Third Policeman… while running on a treadmill at a New York gym. This past weekend, “Speed Reading,” a 90-minute performance […]