Fowler & Wells Company
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| Founded | 1835 |
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| Founder | Orson Squire Fowler and Lorenzo Niles Fowler |
| Successor | Charlotte Fowler |
| Headquarters location | New York City, New York |
| Publication types | The Phrenological Journal, serial publications, standard works |
| Nonfiction topics | phrenology, physiognomy, ethnology, physiology, psychology, hygiene |
Fowler & Wells Company was a 19th-century American publishing house, based in New York City. The business was classified as phrenologists and publishers, but it was also a scientific and educational institution. The company was established in 1835 by the brothers Orson Squire Fowler and Lorenzo Niles Fowler. Samuel Roberts Wells joined the company in 1843, and he subsequently married Charlotte Fowler, a sister of the Fowler brothers. Eventually, the Fowler brothers left the company, and Mr. Wells died. In 1884, Mrs. Wells incorporated the company, and became its president.
The Fowler & Wells Company was a scientific institution that had a worldwide reputation. For 57 years, its founders and owners maintained an office in New York City, and were the recognized leaders in the phrenological, physiological, and hygienic sciences. For half a century, they were the main educators in these branches of study. The organization was located at 27 East 21st Street, near Broadway. The work was inaugurated by Orson Squire Fowler and Lorenzo Niles Fowler in 1835. They were the first in America to give the science of phrenology a practical value by making special delineations of character. They began work in a small way, but steadily increased its scope. In 1843, they were joined by Samuel Roberts Wells, who subsequently married Charlotte Fowler, the sister of his partners. In the course of time, both the Fowlers withdrew from the publishing house. Orson died in 1887. Lorenzo continued his professional practice in London. Mr. Wells conducted the business of the original house until his death, in 1875, and Mrs. Wells, assumed the management until 1884.
An outgrowth of the business was the American Institute of Phrenology, which was incorporated as an educational institution in 1866. Among the original incorporators were Horace Greeley, Rev. Dr. Samuel Osgood, Judge Amos Dean, Henry Dexter, Samuel R. Wells, Edward P. Fowler, M. D., and Nelson Sizer. Each year, beginning on the first Tuesday in September, a course of instruction in practical phrenology was given by a corps of experts, under the direction of Prof. Sizer, the president of the institute.
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