SPENCE, Lewis "Myths and Legends of the North American Indians" [Harrap, 1914]

SPENCE, Lewis. The Myths of the North American Indians.

London: George G. Harrap and Company, 1914. 8.75" x 6", xii + 393pp with 37 illustrated plates (32 in color) by James Jack. Gray cloth with embossed patterns and gilt pictorial designs. Ex library with expected markings - bookplates, stamps, etc. Hinges both well starting. Early pages quite foxed but textblock generally clean with just occasional spotting or penciled marginalia. Good.

Lewis Spence (1874–1955) was a Scottish journalist, folklorist, and mythographer who became one of the early twentieth century’s most prolific writers on world mythology. He published more than forty books covering Celtic lore, Native American traditions, Mesoamerican cultures, and occult studies, helping to introduce these subjects to a broad English-speaking audience. Though not a professional anthropologist, Spence’s accessible style and wide-ranging comparative approach made his works influential in popularizing Indigenous mythologies for general readers of the period.