mind to the external world, Combe argues that politics, legislation, education, morals, religion, and pursuits of man have the potential to improve, if only the principles of Phrenology and the obedience of the natural laws are true, taught, and incorporated into the 'public mind.' Reception Initially, The Constitution of Man was indifferently received, selling in small numbers over a period of six years or so. Historian James A. Secord reports, "In Britain Constitution was initially a flop. Published in an edition of 1,500 the book sold slowly until 1835, about 100 copies a year and received almost no reviews. In 1832, two revised, expanded, and subsidized ‘Henderson’ editions in the same format…sold quickly" The Henderson edition was subsidized by William Ramsay Henderson with a donation of five-thousand pounds for the 'advancement of Phrenology.' In 1836, the Chambers edition sold at one fifth of the regular price sold “85,000 copies by 1850 making Constitution '''among the best-selling books of the nineteenth century.' In Combe's lifetime, there were five published editions of The Constitution, with 100,000 copies sold in the UK and 200,000 copies in the United States. With the financial help of the Henderson Bequest, an affordable edition of The Constitution was published, selling 59,00 copies in a 3 year period. There are at least nine unique published editions. Controversy Though in The Constitution Combe states: "I have endeavoured to avoid all religious controversy," numerous contemporaries accused Combe of atheism, materialism, and determinism. Combe took particular care not to offend Christian beliefs, but many critics read The Constitution as anti-Christian. Critics feared that Combe threatened the role of God by championing the laws of nature, and Combe was accused of attempting to sway followers of the Christian faith. Historian Anthony Walsh comments, "As a work which denied to a certain extent Divine intervention in worldly happenings, [The Constitution] was condemned as an expression of infidelity." Additionally, Combe's claim that the Phrenological understanding of the mind and his own philosophy were valuable to guiding religious education was met with criticism, as they believed Combe prioritized his understanding of the Natural Laws and the Phrenological understanding of the mind over the Bible. Historian James Secord notes, "Constitution maintained that understanding the laws of nature must be a preliminary to all religious instruction, so that the Bible needed to be interpreted in light of the Constitution rather than the other way around." Numerous attacks