The Illustrated Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion [Perfect Paperback]

James George Frazer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 6, 1996

Simon & Schuster, 1996 224 pages, Index, beautifully illustrated throughout with Art, Artifacts and Images from around the world. Frazer's central theme is Sympathetic Magic. Includes Rainmaking, Fertility Rights, Fire Festivals + much more

Product Details

• Perfect Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (December 6, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684818507
• ISBN-13: 978-0684818504
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #416,161 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Idea, July 12, 2008

By 

Theseus "theseus" (US of A) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Illustrated Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Perfect Paperback)

Frazer's weighty, scholarly, 12 volume work about the beginnings of magic and religion is one of those works that have left a huge, huge, huge, and also really big footprint in our understandings of anthropology, psychology, history, Jungian studies, Freudian studies, film, visual art, and religion. I like to think of the Victorian/Edwardian Frazer as an Ur Joseph Campbell.

But how many lay readers are going to dig into his 12 volumes?

Thus, a brilliant idea. Editor Robert Temple gives us a severely edited, glossy-papered Frazer with a strong focus on the concept of sympathetic magic. And the pictures. They travel in ways that Frazer's prose wants to travel. The images range from archeological artifacts to 19th century oils, to contemporary photographs, to woodcuts. They are rich, multi-faceted, beautiful. They fill me with awe and make my mind jump about.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bloody Brilliant, July 12, 2008

By 

Theseus "theseus" (US of A) - See all my reviews

Frazer's weighty, scholarly, 12 volume work about the beginnings of magic and religion is one of those works that have left a huge, huge, huge, and also really big footprint in our understandings of anthropology, psychology, history, Jungian studies, Freudian studies, film, visual art, and religion. I like to think of the Victorian/Edwardian Frazer as an Ur Joseph Campbell.

But how many lay readers are going to dig into his 12 volumes?

Thus, a brilliant idea. Editor Robert Temple gives us a severely edited, glossy-papered Frazer with a strong focus on the concept of sympathetic magic. And the pictures. They travel in ways that Frazer's prose wants to travel. The images range from archeological artifacts to 19th century oils, to contemporary photographs, to woodcuts. They are rich, multi-faceted, beautiful. They fill me with awe and make my mind jump about.

15 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars History Buffs welcome!, February 25, 2001

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Illustrated Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Perfect Paperback)

The Illustrated Golden Bough; A study in magic and religon, was a well written book that I would reccomend to those with a bit of time on their hands. It was thorough in it's information, but lacked a spicy sense of humor that would keep the reader glued to the pages. For those of you that are interested in history, this is a must read. It includes stuff from before Christianity and way into the witch doctors. I loved how it wrote about magic, without judging it. Over all, it was a little dry, but very informative.