MYTH, RITUAL AND RELIGION
Book Details + Condition: Longmans, Green and Co (London). Scarce early edition (First New Impression), 1913. Complete in 2 volumes. Hardcover. Volume I: 339 pages; Volume II: 380 pages. A scarce complete set in very good condition, with firm bindings; lightly bumped corners; minor shelf wear to boards; sunning to spines; interiors are clean and free of markings, save small note to front free endpapers. First published in 1887, this early work of comparative mythology remains a vital resource to students and devotees of ethnography, history, and world legends and mythologies. Lang's comprehensive overview provides an important perspective on the worldviews that molded and continue to influence modern thought. Lang begins with a minimum definition of religion - "the belief in a primal being, a Maker" - and explores the differences between mythology and religion, discusses the problems of seeking the origins of the belief in a deity, and examines totemism, nature myths, and creation stories from around the globe, including Greece, Asia, Australia, Africa, and the New World. Chapters include:
- Systems of Mythology
- New System Proposed
- The Mental Condition of Savages - Confusion with Nature - Totemism
- Magic - Metamorphosis - Metaphysic - Psychology
- Nature Myths
- Aryan Myths of the Origin of the World and of Man
- Indo-Aryan Myths
- Indian Myths of the Origin of the World and of Man
- Greek Myths of the World and of Man
- Greek Cosmogonic Myths
- Savage Divine Myths
- Gods of the Lowest Races
- American Divine Myths
- Mexican Divine Myths
- The Mythology of Egypt
- Gods of the Aryans of India
- Greek Divine Myths
- Heroic and Romantic Myths
Andrew Lang (1844-1912) was a prolific Scots man of letters, a poet, novelist, literary critic and contributor to anthropology. He remains best known as the collector of folk and fairy tales. As a journalist, poet, critic and historian, he quickly made a reputation as one of the ablest and most versatile writers of the day. Lang was one of the founders of the study of "Psychical Research," and his other writings on anthropology include The Book of Dreams and Ghosts (1897), Magic and Religion (1901), and The Secret of the Totem (1905).
