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. Volume 1 (1911) explores the belief that kings could harness Nature.
- ISBN13 9781108047302
- Publish Date 26 April 2012 (first published December 1936)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 13 June 2021
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Cambridge University Press
- Edition 3rd Revised edition
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 468
- Language English