Essays of an Americanist collects Daniel G. Brinton’s studies in the ethnology, archaeology, mythology, folklore, and languages of the native peoples of the Americas. A leading nineteenth-century Americanist, Brinton addresses topics from indigenous religion and graphic systems to linguistics, drawing on a wide command of sources.
The volume reflects the formative period of American anthropology, when scholars were assembling the first systematic accounts of New World cultures. Brinton’s interpretations bear the marks of their time and should be read critically, yet his learning and his attention to native languages and traditions make the essays a substantial source. The book remains useful for the history of anthropology and the study of pre-Columbian and indigenous American cultures.