The Selected Writings of Andrew Lang Volume II: Folklore, Mythology, Anthropology; Case Studies

A novelist, poet, literary critic and anthropologist, Andrew Lang is best known for his publications on folklore, mythology and religion; many have grown up with the ‘colour’ Fairy Books which he compiled between 1889 and 1910. This three volume set presents a selection of his work in these areas. As a companion to the first volume, the second is comprised of various case studies made by Lang, ranging from ‘The Aryan Races of Peru’ and ‘The Folk-lore of France’ to ‘Irish Fairies’ and ‘The Ballads, Scottish and English’. Collectively, the General Introduction to the set and the Introductions to the individual volumes offer a thorough overview of Lang’s work in an astonishing variety of fields, including his translation work on Homer and his contributions to historiography (particularly Scottish). Headnotes to the individual items are of varying length and provide more detail on specific topics, and explanatory notes supply unique intellectual comment rather than merely factual information.

Volume II: Folklore, Mythology, Anthropology (Case Studies) Introduction to Volume II ‘The Aryan Races of Peru’, Macmillan’s Magazine, 1873 [Review of Charles Deulin, Contes du roi Gambrinus], The Academy, 1874 ‘The Folk-Lore of France’, Folk-Lore Record, 1878 ‘The Early History of the Family’, Contemporary Review, 1883 ‘Anthropology and the Vedas’, Folk-Lore Journal, 1883 ‘The "Kalevala"’, in his Custom and Myth, 1884, 1885 ‘In the Wrong Paradise’, in his In the Wrong Paradise, 1886 ‘On Books About Red Men’, in his Letters on Literature, 1889 ‘The Wonders of Mexico’, in his The True Story Book, 3rd ed., 1893 ‘Cinderella and the Diffusion of Tales’, Folk-Lore, 1893 ‘Irish Fairies’, Illustrated London News, 1893 ‘A Creelful of Celtic Stories’, Blackwood’s Magazine, 1898 ‘The Ballads. Scottish and English’, Chambers Cyclopedia of English Literature, v. 1, 1905 ‘Notes on Ballad Origins’, Folk-Lore, 1903 Introduction to Australian Legendary Tales, ed. K. Langloh Parker, 1894 Introduction to K. Langloh Parker, The Euahlayi Tribe, 1905 ‘The Alcheringa and the All Father’, Revue des études ethnographiques et sociologiques, 1909 Introduction to Elphinstone Dayrell, Folk Stories of Southern Nigeria, 1910 ‘The Poltergeist Mystery: Andrew Lang discusses phenomena which occur everywhere’, New York Times, 1910

Tom Hubbard