The Golden Bough

This work by Sir James Frazer (1854–1941) is widely considered to be one of the most important early texts in the fields of psychology and anthropology. At the same time, by applying modern methods of comparative ethnography to the classical world, and revealing the superstition and irrationality beneath the surface of the classical culture which had for so long been a model for Western civilisation, it was extremely controversial. Frazer was greatly influenced by E. B. Tylor's Primitive Culture (also reissued in this series), and by the work of the biblical scholar William Robertson Smith, to whom the first edition is dedicated. The twelve-volume third edition, reissued here, was greatly revised and enlarged, and published between 1911 and 1915; the two-volume first edition (1890) is also available in this series. Volumes 10 and 11 (1913) continue to examine taboo behaviour, and consider the role of sunlight and firelight in ritual.

Preface; 1. Between heaven and earth; 2. The seclusion of girls at puberty; 3. The myth of Balder; 4. The fire-festivals of Europe; 5. The interpretation of the fire-festivals.

This greatly revised and enlarged twelve-volume third edition (1911-15) of the controversial work by Sir James Frazer (1854-1941) applies the techniques of comparative ethnography to classical religion. Volumes 10 and 11 (1913) continue to examine taboo behaviour, and consider the role of sunlight and firelight in ritual.