The Golden Bough

This edition includes the complete text of the single-volume version of Sir James G. Frazer's landmark study of primitive myths, magic and and ancient religion, in a freshly edited and newly typeset edition. Also included are a detailed author biography and an original introductory essay discussing the significance, influence and criticisms of this landmark work, providing useful background information, context and perspective for the modern reader. With a large 7.44"x9.69" page size, this Summit Classic edition is printed on hefty 60-lb. bright white paper with a fully laminated cover featuring an original full color design. A detailed, section-by-section Table of Contents for ease in locating specific subject matter, modern, readable fonts that preserve the feel of classic books and freshly edited and typeset text exemplify the attention to detail given this volume. Not an electronic scan or reproduction, this volume has been prepared by human editors, carefully retaining the original text without alteration. Originally published in a two volume, heavily annotated edition in 1890, Sir James G. Frazer's wide-ranging, comparative study of mythology and religion was a landmark work intended as both a scholarly treatise and a work of general interest. Presupposing a broadly literate audience familiar with tales from the age of fable and Greek and Norse mythology, Frazer took a modernist approach to religion, analyzing it as a cultural phenomenon rather than theological dogma. While not the first to consider religion from a cultural perspective, the breadth and detail of Frazer's work as a social anthpologist made him an influential early voice in the studies of comparative religion and mythology and he is widely considered one of the founding fathers of modern anthropology. By the time a third edition of The Golden Bough was published in 1915 it had grown to twelve heavily annotated volumes and become inaccessible to the average reader. So a single volume abridged edition was published in 1922. This volume contains the complete text of that 1922 edition. All footnotes and the bibliography were removed by Frazer when this edition was originally published, and it is intended for a general and more casual readership, rather than as a scholarly reference work or primary source material. Some of Frazer's theories, such as the natural "Darwinian" progression from magic to religion to science, have been displaced. But some modern criticism of his work is unjustified, relying on the abridged work to come to the conclusion that he made broad assumptions unsupported by evidence when in fact the archaeological support for his conclusions is clearly included in the heavily annotated multi-volume treatise. Frazer's work remains an accessible treasure trove of information on ancient myths, cults, religious beliefs and practices and a view of how primitive man and the ancients thought, the fascinating result of a journey that began with the investigation of an obscure Roman cult centered around an Italian lake and ended with a sweeping view of the development of primitive beliefs in magic, myth and religion in cultures around the world.