author

Samuel R. (Samuel Roberts) Wells

1820–1875

A busy 19th-century publisher and popular writer, he helped bring phrenology and physiognomy to a wide American audience. His books ranged from character reading to practical handbooks, offering a vivid glimpse into the ideas and self-improvement culture of his time.

2 Audiobooks

How to Behave: A Pocket Manual of Republican Etiquette, and Guide to Correct Personal Habits Embracing an Exposition of the Principles of Good Manners; Useful Hints on the Care of the Person, Eating, Drinking, Exercise, Habits, Dress, Self-culture, and Behavior at Home; the Etiquette of Salutations, Introductions, Receptions, Visits, Dinners, Evening Parties, Conversation, Letters, Presents, Weddings, Funerals, the Street, the Church, Places of Amusement, Traveling, Etc., with Illustrative Anecdotes, a Chapter on Love and Courtship, and Rules of Order for Debating Societies

How to Behave: A Pocket Manual of Republican Etiquette, and Guide to Correct Personal Habits Embracing an Exposition of the Principles of Good Manners; Useful Hints on the Care of the Person, Eating, Drinking, Exercise, Habits, Dress, Self-culture, and Behavior at Home; the Etiquette of Salutations, Introductions, Receptions, Visits, Dinners, Evening Parties, Conversation, Letters, Presents, Weddings, Funerals, the Street, the Church, Places of Amusement, Traveling, Etc., with Illustrative Anecdotes, a Chapter on Love and Courtship, and Rules of Order for Debating Societies

by Samuel R. (Samuel Roberts) Wells

The Salem Witchcraft, the Planchette Mystery, and Modern Spiritualism With Dr. Doddridge's Dream

The Salem Witchcraft, the Planchette Mystery, and Modern Spiritualism With Dr. Doddridge's Dream

by Samuel R. (Samuel Roberts) Wells, Harriet Beecher Stowe

About the author

Active in New York in the mid-1800s, Samuel Roberts Wells was an American phrenologist, author, and publisher. He was closely connected with the Fowler & Wells firm, a well-known house that promoted phrenology, physiology, and other popular reform and self-help subjects.

Wells wrote and edited books that tried to explain character, health, marriage, and everyday life through the lens of 19th-century body-reading theories. Among the works associated with him are How to Read Character and New Physiognomy, books that show how strongly many readers of his era believed personality could be interpreted from outward signs.

He also had a place in literary history: the Walt Whitman Archive notes that Wells was part of the publishing world that distributed the 1856 edition of Leaves of Grass. Today, he is remembered less as a scientific authority than as a revealing figure in the history of publishing, popular psychology, and American reform culture.