(#136354) RUMANIAN BIRD AND BEAST STORIES RENDERED INTO ENGLISH. Gaster.
RUMANIAN BIRD AND BEAST STORIES RENDERED INTO ENGLISH ...

RUMANIAN BIRD AND BEAST STORIES RENDERED INTO ENGLISH. London: Published for the Folk-Lore Society by Sidgwick & Jackson, Ltd., 1915. Octavo, pp.[i-vii] viii [ix] x-xx [1] 2-381 [382-384: blank] [note: last leaf is a blank], original decorated brown cloth, front panel stamped in black and gold, spine panel stamped in gold, rear panel stamped in black, top edge untrimmed, black coated endpapers. First edition. A major collection of Romanian popular legends recorded by Moses Gaster (1856-1934), an eminent folklorist and Hebraic scholar, which includes Gaster's lengthy, highly important, introduction (pages [1]-59) in which he discusses his folk tale migration theory in detail. "In these Romanian popular legends, so strikingly in contrast to the fairy tales of western Europe, one can see evidences of the stage when 'marvelous and wonder-working animals' were implicitly accepted as part of the popular faith ... Paganism and gnosticism mix happily. 'The heathen gods, the Christian saints, God and the devil legends, fairy tales, oriental imagery, mystical traditions and astrological lore are all inextricably blended together.' In a sense the collection is mis-titled, for these are actually creation and biblical folk legends in which birds and beasts play a part." - Dorson, The British Folklorists, pp. 273-6. Inner front hinge cracked, but still a tight, very good or better copy. (#136354).

Price: $125.00

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Printing identification statement for this book:
No statement of printing. The book is dated 1914 at the base of the spine panel.