The Edinburgh Critical Edition of the Selected Writings of Andrew Lang, Volume 1: Anthropology, Fairy Tale, Folklore, The Origins of Religion, Psychical Research

About the Book

The Selected Works of Andrew Lang: Volume 1
Anthropology: Fairy Tale, Folklore, the Origins of Religion, Psychical Research
Edited by Andrew Teverson, Alexandra Warwick and Leigh Wilson
This is the first critical edition of the works of Andrew Lang (1844-1912), the Scottish writer whose enormous output spanned the whole range of late-nineteenth century intellectual culture. Neglected since his death, partly because of the diversity of his interests and the volume of his writing, his cultural centrality and the interdisciplinary nature of his work make him a vital figure for contemporary scholars.
This volume covers Lang's wide and influential engagement with the central areas of late nineteenth-century anthropology. Lang made decisive interventions in debates around the meaning of folk tales and the origins of religion, as well as being an important figure in the investigation of spiritualist claims through psychical research. The work reproduced here includes journalism, essays, extracts from books and previously unpublished letters which together articulate and challenge some of the central ideas and discussions of the period, including evolution, the relation between modern and non-modern cultures, the nature of scientific claims to truth, and the consequences of materialism. The volume will provide new and illuminating ways of understanding and assessing the period for scholars across a range of disciplines, including those interested in the histories of the fairy story, of science, of the occult, of colonialism and of anthropology.
Key Features:
Unpublished archival material
Critical introductions to the major areas of his work
Full explanatory notes

Andrew Teverson is Professor of English Literature and Associate Dean for the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Kingston University, London. His research centres on the use and meaning of fairy tales, and he has published both on the employment of them in contemporary writing and on the historical development of the form. He is the author of Fairy Tale (Routledge, 2013).
Alexandra Warwick is Professor of English Studies and Head of the Department of English, Linguistics and Cultural Studies at the University of Westminster. Her research is on Victorian culture, in particular the fin de siecle.
Leigh Wilson is Reader in Modern Literature in the Department of English, Linguistics and Cultural Studies at the University of Westminster. Her research focuses on modernism, on the place of supernatural and occult beliefs and practices in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and on the contemporary British novel. She is the author of Modernism and Magic: Experiments with Spiritualism, Theosophy and the Occult (EUP, 2013).

Table of Contents:
General Introduction; Introduction to the Volume; Chronology of the Life and Major works of Andrew Lang; A Note on the Text; Acknowledgements; 1: The Method of Folklore; 2. Anthropology and Folklore; 3. Fairy Tales; 4. Anthropology, and the Origins of Religion; 5. Anthropology and Physcial Research; 6. Psychical Research; Appendix I: Names Frequently Cited by Lang; Appendix II: Ethnic Groups Cited by Lang; Explanatory Notes; Index

About the Author :
Andrew Teverson is Dean of Academic Strategy and Professor of Cultural History and Critical Thinking at the London College of Fashion, University of the Arts, London. His recent publications include the edited collection The Fairy Tale World (Routledge Worlds Series, 2019), and a two-volume critical edition of the scholarly writings of Andrew Lang (Edinburgh University Press 2015, with Alexandra Warwick and Leigh Wilson). Currently he is editing a volume for The Bloomsbury Cultural History of Fairy Tale on Fairy Tale in the Modern Age, due for publication in 2021. Previous publications include Fairy Tale (Routledge, New Critical Idiom, 2013) and Postcolonial Spaces: The Politics of Place in Contemporary Culture (2011, Palgrave, edited with Sara Upstone). Alexandra Warwick is Professor of English Studies and Head of the Department of English, Linguistics and Cultural Studies at the University of Westminster. Her research is on Victorian culture, in particular the fin de siècle. Leigh Wilson is Reader in Modern Literature in the Department of English, Linguistics and Cultural Studies at the University of Westminster. Her research focuses on modernism, on the place of supernatural and occult beliefs and practices in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and on the contemporary British novel. She is the author of Modernism and Magic: Experiments with Spiritualism, Theosophy and the Occult (EUP, 2013).

Review :
'The two Andrew Lang volumes are balanced, well-researched and as comprehensive as we are likely to get, given the range of Lang’s output. The Explanatory Notes are detailed, thorough and very helpful; the appendices on key names and ethnic groups referred to by Lang are particularly welcome. Overall, the editors have thoughtfully and helpfully catered for the great range of readers who will use these volumes.' Professor William Gray, Director, Sussex Centre for Folklore, Fairy Tales and Fantasy, University of Chichester A superb scholarly resource for folklorists, in which Lang's role in the development of folkloristics from the second half of the nineteenth century receives critical appraisal. Excellent contextualisation of Lang’s folkloric writing amongst his other work on literature, together with helpful appendices and comprehensive explanatory notes.