The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries

London: Henry Frowde / Oxford University Press, 1911. First Edition. Cloth. Very Good+. First Edition. Cloth. Folklorists say fairies are fragments of ancient religious beliefs; occultists call them nature spirits; the peasant tradition says they are fallen angels who were not good enough to be saved or bad enough to be lost. Dr. Evans-Wentz is best known as the author-translator of "The Tibetan Book of the Dead," but his first book, presents a body of tradition and testimony about an elusive order of life that survives in the natural setting of wild and lonely places. He was not satisfied with merely formal study, but collected first-hand reports of fairies in Wales, Ireland, Scotland and Brittany, and faced up to the key questions avoided by other folklorists. Dr. Evans-Wentz, presents the haunts of fairyland to the wilderness of Tibet, opens a path for us to the luminous reality behind the traditions of folklore. Includes annotated notes and index citations from the previous owner. Walter Yeeling Evans-Wentz (February 2, 1878 - July 17, 1965) was an American anthropologist and writer who was a pioneer in the study of Tibetan Buddhism, and in transmission of Tibetan Buddhism to the Western world, most known for publishing an early English translation of The Tibetan Book of the Dead in 1927. This is one of the most in-depth and scholarly attempts to explain the phenomena of the Celtic belief in fairies. Based on Evans-Wentz' Oxford doctoral thesis, it includes an extensive survey of the literature from many different perspectives, including folk-lore, history, anthropology and psychology. Bumping, and minimal shelfwear, underlining, owner notes, otherwise tight, bright, and unmarred. Original decorated gilt green cloth recased and refurbished. 8vo. xxviii, 524pp. illus (b/w, frontis). Lacking dustjacket.