THE WITCH FIGURE: Folklore Essays by a Group of Scholars in England Honoring the 75th Birthday of Katherine M. Briggs
Routledge & Kegan Paul (London). Scarce First Edition, 1973. Venetia Newall, Editor. With contributions by Christina Hole, Geoffrey Parrinder, H.R. Ellis Davidson and L.V. Grinnell, et al. Hardcover. Octavo. 240pp. Black cloth lettered in gilt on spine. B&W frontis portrait. Bibliography & index. In honor of Katharine Briggs, the great British folklorist and author of the massive reference "Dictionary of British Folk-tales" and many other works. The book is a collection of essays by leading scholars in the field, around the central theme of "the witch figure as a malevolent intermediary in folk belief." Contents: Katharine M. Briggs, An Appreciation, by R. Michaelis-Jena; Animal Witchcraft in Japan by Carmen Blacker; Hostile Magic in the Icelandic Sagas by H. R. Ellis Davidson; The Ominous Wood, by Margaret Dean-Smith; Witchcraft at Some Prehistoric Sites by L. V. Grinsell, Some Instances of Image-Magic in Great Britain by Christina Hole; The Jew as a Witch Figure, by Venetia Newall; The Witch as Victim, by Geoffrey Parrinder; The Divine Hag of the Pagan Celts by Anne Ross; Olaf Tryggvason Versus the Powers of Darkness, by Jacqueline Simpson; -Cain's Kin, by Beatrice White; The Witch as a Frightening and Threatening Figure, by John Widdowson; Publications by Katharine M. Briggs. Overall in very good condition: Tight binding; cloth lightly rubbed and with a few light marks; abrasion to surface of pastedowns (most likely the now-discarded dust jacket was taped to it); interior is unmarked save pencil notes on reverse of rear blank endpaper.
