THE GOLDEN BOUGH, A Study in Magic and Religion. Part I. The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings (2 vol.), II. Taboo and the Perils of the Soul (1 vol.)., III. The Dying God (1 vol.), IV. Adonis, Attis, Osirus (2 vol.), V. Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild ( 2 vol.), VI. The Scapegoat (1 vol.), VII. Balder the Beautiful: The Fire -Festivals of Europe and the Doctrine of the External Soul. (2 vol.), VIII. Bibliography and General Index With AFTERMATH: A Supplement to “The Golden Bough” and with the RARE PROSPECTUS TO THE THIRD EDITION, WRITTEN BY FRAZER IN 1907 and with the advertisement leaf for his essay MYTHS OF THE ORIGIN OF FIRE.

London: Macmillan and Co., 1911-1915; 1936. 13 Volumes plus the Prospectus and the Advertisement leaf. Third edition, [Revised and Expanded], The First Complete Edition; First Edition of the Supplement: AFTERMATH. Engraved frontispiece of "The Golden Bough" to Volume I. 8vo, publisher’s full blue-green cloth lettered in gilt on spine and with elaborate gilt devices to the upper cover of each volume. Part I: xxxii, 426, 2 ads; xi, 417, 2 ads, II: xv, 446, 2 ads, III. xii, 306, 2 ads, IV: xv, 317, 2 ads; x, 321, 2 ads, V. ix, 319; xii, 371 , 4 ads, VI. xiv, 453, 2 ads, VII. xx, 342, 2 ads; xi, 389, VIII. 536, 2 ads., Supplement: xx, 494, 2 ads. Generally a fine set, the first two volumes show wear to the crowns and sides and evidence of use, the remaining volumes quite handsome and very well preserved with just a minimal bit of wear. A complete and important set of books. THE FIRST COMPLETE EDITION INCLUDING THE RARE "AFTERMATH" VOLUME. Frazer’s important and influential work of anthropology, a comparative study of primitive religions. In it’s third and most complete form. Listed in PRINTING AND THE MIND OF MAN.
In 1888, Frazer was asked by William Robertson Smith, the editor of the “Encyclopedia Britannica” to contribute two articles on ‘Taboo’ and ‘Totemism’ “These two tribal practices Frazer regarded as half-religious, half -social phenomena-the ‘clean’ and ‘unclean’ conception leading to sacrificial practices. He was especially attracted to tracing the connection of these ideas with the mysteries associated with the shrine of Diana at Lake Nemi and the riddle of the King of the Woods, whom he conceived as a totemistic figure, The explanation of the Arician Mysteries led him to study their origins and to find comparisons and parallels in other, more primitive religious systems.
The result of these wider studies was THE GOLDEN BOUGH. First published in 2 volumes in 1890, edition succeeded edition in continually enlarged scope, from a second edition in 3 volumes in 1900, a third edition beginning in 1911 and extending to 13 volumes by 1936.”
Frazer writes in his Prospectus for this important edition: "Amongst the subjects of these dissertations are, for example, the principles of magic and its relation to religion in history; the evolution of the kingship; the worship of trees and cereals; the propitiation of game and fish by savage hunters and fishers; the principles of taboo; the life and violent death of human gods; the custom of the scape-goat; the fire-festivals of Europe; and the theory and practice of the external soul....With each edition these several dissertations or treatises have grown in bulk by the accumulation of fresh materials, and with each edition consequently the tendency of the book to disruption has become more pronounced...I believe that I shall best consult the interest and convenience of my readers by breaking the book into a series of monographs which will be sold separately under separate titles, while the general title of THE GOLDEN BOUGH will be retained by each to indicate its connection with the others and the thread of argument which runs through them all...