Finck, H. T.

Finck H. T. (1887/1902). Romantic love and personal beauty: Their development, causal relations, historical and national peculiarities. Macmillan and Co (Originally published in 1887 with new edition in 1902 by Macmillan).

Recently reprinted by Good Press. Finck, H. T. (2019). Romantic love and personal beauty: Their development, causal relations, historic and national peculiarities. Good Press.

In 1887, Henry Finck published in McMillan a beautiful book called “Romantic Love and Personal Beauty” with incredible coverage of their development, causal relations, and historic and national peculiarities. I was amazed when I discovered this great archive of the prolific love scholarship written in the 19th century. It was a very comprehensive volume. I was very pleased to learn that Good Press reprinted this excellent text more than a hundred years later. A special thanks to Project Gutenberg for this opportunity.

The book covers a wide range of topics about romantic love and personal beauty. The contents of the book are below for your perusing. It is amazing how a wide range of topics are covered and how much knowledge the scholars of that time knew about this subject.

You can clearly see an amazing scope of various topics reviewed by Henry Finck (1887) in his book “Romantic Love and Personal Beauty: Their Development, Causal Relations, Historic and National Perpetuities. It is really admirable how much the scholars of the past knew about love and how comprehensive their knowledge of love was.

Table of Contents

Evolution of Romantic Love   1

Cosmic Attraction and Chemical Affinities    3

Flower Love and Beauty    7

Impersonal Affection     11

Personal Affections       16

I.            Love for Animals             16

II.           Maternal Love   19

III.          Paternal Love    20

IV.         Filial Love           22

V.           Brotherly and Sisterly Love          23

VI.         Friendship          24

VII.        Romantic Love  26

Overtones of Love          29

I.            Individual Preference     30

II.           Monopoly or Exclusiveness         30

III.          Jealousy             30

IV.         Coyness              30

V.           Gallantry            31

VI.         Self-Sacrifice      31

VII.        Sympathy           31

VIII.       Pride of Conquest and Possession           31

IX.          Emotional Hyperbole     32

X.           Mixed Moods    32

XI.          Admiration of Personal Beauty   32

Love among Animals      33

              Courtship           37

              Love Dances and Display             52

Love among Savages      54

              Strangers to Love            54

              Primitive Courtship        56

              Individual Preference     59

              Personal Beauty and Sexual Selection     60

              Jealousy and Polygamy  62

              Monopoly and Monogamy          63

              Primitive Coyness           64

              Can American Negroes Love?     66

History of Love  67

Love in Egypt     67

Ancient Hebrew Love     69

Ancient Aryan Love         72

              Hindoo Love Maxims     73

Greek Love         75

              Family Affection              75

              No Love Stories 76

              Woman’s Position          77

              Chaperonage versus Courtship  77

              Plato on Courtship          78

              Parental versus Lovers’ Choice   78

              The Hetæræ      79

              Platonic Love     80

              Sappho and Female Friendship  81

              Greek Beauty    83

              Cupid’s Arrows 84

              Origin of Love    85

Roman Love       86

              Woman’s Position          86

              No Wooing and Choice  87

              Virgil, Dryden, and Scott              89

              Ovid’s Art of Making Love            90

              Birth of Gallantry            91

Mediæval Love  92

              Celibacy versus Marriage             92

              Woman’s Lowest Degradation   93

              Christianity and Love      97

              Chivalry—Militant and Comic     98

              Chivalry—Poetic              101

              (a)         French Troubadours      102

              (b)         German Minnesingers   103

              Female Culture 105

              Personal Beauty              107

              Spenser on Love              108

              Dante and Shakspere     109

Modern Love     111

              A Biologic Test   111

              Venus, Plutus, and Minerva        112

              Leading Motives              114

              Modern Coyness             114

                            Goldsmith on Love          116

                            Disadvantages of Coyness           118

                            Coyness lessens Woman’s Love 120

                            Masculine versus Feminine Love              120

                            Flirtation and Coquetry 122

                            Flirtation versus Coyness             123

                            Modern Courtship          125

              Modern Jealousy            127

                            Lover’s Jealousy              129

                            Retrospective and Prospective Jealousy 131

                            Jealousy and Beauty       133

              Monopoly or Exclusiveness         133

                            True Love is Transient    135

                            Is First Love Best?           136

                            Heine on First Love         137

                            First Love is not Best      137

              Pride and Vanity              141

                            Coquetry            142

                            Love and Rank   143

              Special Sympathy            145

                            How Love Intensifies Emotions  146

                            Development of Sympathy          147

                            Pity and Love     150

                            Love at First Sight            152

                            Intellect and Love           154

              Gallantry and Self-Sacrifice          157

              Active and Passive Desire to Please         159

              Feminine Devotion         160

              Emotional Hyperbole     162

              Mixed Moods and Paradoxes     166

              Lunatic, Lover, and Poet 172

              Individual Preference     173

              Sexual Divergence          174

              Making Woman Masculine          175

              Love and Culture             176

              Personal Beauty              177

              Feminine Beauty in Masculine Eyes         177

              Masculine Beauty in Feminine Eyes         178

Conjugal Affection and Romantic Love    180

              Romance in Conjugal Love           184

              Marriages of Reason or Love Matches?  187

              Marriage Hints  189

Old Maids          190

Bachelors           194

Genius and Marriage      197

Genius and Love              201

Genius in Love   204

              (1)         Precocity            204

              (2)         Ardour 207

              (3)         Fickleness           210

              (4)         Multiplicity         213

              (5)         Fictitiousness    215

Insanity and Love            218

              Analogies           218

              Erotomania, or Real Love-Sickness           222

The Language of Love    223

I.            Words  223

II.           Facial Expression            224

III.          Caresses             225

Kissing—Past, Present, and Future           227

              Among Animals 227

              Among Savages 228

              Origin of Kissing 229

              Ancient Kisses   232

              Mediæval Kisses              233

              Modern Kisses   234

              Love Kisses         235

              How to Kiss        237

How to Win Love             238

              Brass Buttons    238

              Confidence and Boldness            239

              Pleasant Associations    240

              Perseverance    241

              Feigned Indifference      241

              Compliments     244

              Love Letters       246

              Love Charms for Women             250

              Proposing           253

              Diagnosis, or Signs of Love          254

How to Cure Love           255

              Absence             256

              Travel   257

              Employment      257

              Married Misery 257

              Feminine Inferiority       260

              Focussing Her Faults       262

              Reason versus Passion   263

              Love versus Love             264

              Prognosis, or Chances of Recovery           265

Nationality and Love      265

              French Love       266

              Italian Love        274

              Spanish Love      277

              German Love     280

              English Love       288

              American Love  294

Schopenhauer’s Theory of Love 301

              Love is an Illusion           302

              Individuals Sacrificed to the Species        302

              Sources of Love 303

                            (1)         Physical Beauty 303

                            (2)         Psychic Traits     304

                            (3)         Complementary Qualities            305

Four Sources of Beauty  310

I.            Health  310

                                          Greek Beauty    313

                                          Mediæval Ugliness         314

                                          Modern Hygiene             316

II.           Crossing             318

III.          Romantic Love  322

IV.         Mental Refinement        324

Evolution of Taste           327

vi           Savage Notions of Beauty            327

              Non-Æsthetic “Ornamentation” 328

              Personal Beauty as a Fine Art      329

              Negative Tests of Beauty             331

              (a)         Animals 331

              (b)         Savages 333

              (c)          Degraded Classes            333

              (d)         Age and Decrepitude     334

              (e)         Disease 334

              Positive Tests of Beauty 338

              (a)         Symmetry          338

              (b)         Gradation          339

              (c)          Curvature           341

              (d)         Delicacy              343

              (e)         Smoothness      344

              (f)          Lustre and Colour           345

              (g)          Expression, Variety, Individuality             348

The Feet             351

              Size       351

              Fashionable Ugliness      352

              Tests of Beauty 354

              A Graceful Gait  357

              Evolution of the Great Toe          359

              National Peculiarities     361

              Beautifying Hygiene       362

              Dancing and Grace         364

              Dancing and Courtship  365

              Evolution of Dance Music            367

              The Dance of Love          369

              Ballet-Dancing   370

The Lower Limbs             371

              Muscular Development 371

              Beautifying Exercise       372

              Fashionable Ugliness      375

              The Crinoline Craze        376

              The Waist           378

              The Beauty-Curve           378

              The Wasp-Waist Mania 379

              Hygienic Disadvantages 380

              Æsthetic Disadvantages 381

              Corpulence and Leanness            382

              The Fashion Fetish Analysed       386

              Individualism versus Fashion      389

              Masculine Fashions        391

Chest and Bosom            394

              Feminine Beauty             394

              Masculine Beauty           397

              Magic Effect of Deep Breathing  397

              A Moral Question           399

Neck and Shoulder         400

Arm and Hand   402

              Evolution and Sexual Differences             402

              Calisthenics and Massage            403

              The Second Face             405

              Finger Nails        406

              Manicure Secrets            407

Jaw, Chin, and Mouth    408

              Hands versus Jaws          408

              Dimples in the Chin        412

              Refined Lips       413

              Cosmetic Hints  421

The Cheeks        423

              High Cheek Bones           423

              Colour and Blushes         425

The Ears             429

              A Useless Ornament      429

              Cosmetics and Fashion  431

              Physiognomic Vagaries  433

              Noise and Civilisation     434

              A Musical Voice 435

The Nose            436

              Size and Shape  436

              Evolution of the Nose    438

              Greek and Hebrew Noses            440

              Fashion and Cosmetic Surgery    443

              Nose-Breathing and Health         445

              Cosmetic Value of Odours           446

The Forehead    448

              Beauty and Brain            448

              Fashionable Deformity  450

              Wrinkles             451

The Complexion              453

              White versus Black         453

              Cosmetic Hints  460

              Freckles and Sunshine   462

The Eyes             464

              Colour  465

Lustre   469

              Form     472

              Expression         475

              (a)         Lustre   476

              (b)         Colour of Iris      478

              (c)          Movements of the Iris   479

              (d)         Eyeball 480

              (e)         Eyelids  482

              (f)          Eyebrows           485

The Hair              486

              Cause of Man’s Nudity   486

              Beards and Moustaches 489

              Baldness and Depilatories           492

              Æsthetic Value of Hair   494

Brunette and Blonde      496

              Blonde versus Brunette 496

              Brunette versus Blonde 498

              Why Cupid Favours Brunettes    499

Nationality and Beauty  505

French Beauty   506

Italian Beauty    511

Spanish Beauty 515

German and Austrian Beauty      522

English Beauty   528

American Beauty             535