
Selected Letters of Sir J. G. Frazer
Robert Ackerman(Editor)
Oxford University Press
Published on 29. September 2005
Book
Hardback
436 pages
978-0-19-926696-8 (ISBN)
Description
This is a fully annotated edition of selected letters by (and in some cases to) Sir J. G. Frazer (1854-1941), the eminent anthropologist, classicist, and historian of religion. Frazer was read by virtually everyone working in those fields in the first third of the twentieth century. His great work, The Golden Bough, offered a grand vision of humanity's mental and spiritual evolution - from vain attempts to compel the gods to do our bidding (which Frazer called magic) through equally vain attempts to propitiate the gods through prayer and sacrifice (his characterization of religion) to rationality and science. His richly varied correspondence with prominent figures such as Edmund Gosse, A. E. Housman, and Bronislaw Malinowski, among others, offers an unparalleled insight into British intellectual life of the time, and also throws light upon the composition of The Golden Bough itself.
Reviews / Votes
Ackerman carries off his project with the deceptive ease of one who knows more about Frazer than anyone else alive. Like his earlier biography, this collection will be an indispensable resource for students of Frazer for many years to come. * Robert Alun Jones, Religion * We are not finished with him yet. * Robert Fraser, The Classical Review * this collection will be an indispensable resource for students of Frazer for many years to come. * Robert Alun Jones, Religion * The volume is not merely essential for anthropologists, but will be read with profit and pleasure by all who take a lively interest in the cultural history of recent times. It will certainly entice you to hunt out that old one-volume abridgement of The Golden Bough. * Gordon K. Booth, The Aberdeen University Review * No one more competent than Ackerman, the lauded biographer of Frazer (1987), could have edited these letters with such skill and familiarity. The accurate transcriptions are uncensored. A highly informative, lucidly written, introduction illuminates their intellectual context. A selective biographical list of correspondents is welcome... In short required reading for any competent historian of religion. * William M. Calder III, Religious Studies Review *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
3 line drawings
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
822 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-926696-8 (9780199266968)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Robert Ackerman
Selected Letters of Sir J. G. Frazer
E-Book
09/2005
OUP eBook
€209.99
Available for download
Person
Robert Ackerman was formerly Director of Liberal Arts at the University of the Arts, Philadelphia.
Editor
, Formerly Director of Liberal Arts at the University of the Arts, Philadelphia
Content
General Introduction ; I. BEFORE THE GOLDEN BOUGH, 1878-90. LETTERS ; II. ANTHROPOLOGY AND THE CLASSICS, 1890-1900. LETTERS ; III. THE THIRD EDITIOR, 1900-15. LETTERS ; IV. AFTER THE GOLDEN BOUGH, 1916-31. LETTERS