George Laurence Gomme was one of the foremost folklorists of the Victorian era, and Folklore as an Historical Science is his most theoretically ambitious work. He argues that folk customs, beliefs, and oral traditions are not mere superstition but genuine historical documents — survivals of pre-literate cultures that reveal the deep past of European and world civilisation.
A rigorous and still-stimulating work in the history of anthropology and folklore studies, this book shaped a generation of researchers. This free EPUB is cleanly formatted and ready for scholars and general readers alike.