Bulfinch's Mythology
Bulfinch's Mythology is a collection of the works of Thomas Bulfinch, named after him and published after his death. Bulfinch originally published his work as three volumes: The Age of Fable, or Stories of Gods and Heroes, published in 1855; The Age of Chivalry, or Legends of King Arthur, published in 1858; and Legends of Charlemagne, or Romance of the Middle Ages, published in 1863. The original three volumes were later combined into a single volume titled Bulfinch's Mythology.[1] Multiple editions of the combined work are still in print more than 150 years after the three books were published.
The book is a prose recounting of myths and stories from the three eras, interspersed with his own commentary and with quotations from the writings of Bulfinch's contemporaries which contain a reference to the story under discussion. This combination of classical elements and modern literature was novel for his time.[2]
Bulfinch expressly intended his work to be for the general reader. In the preface to The Age of Fable he stated "Our work is not for the learned, nor for the theologian, nor for the philosopher, but for the reader of English literature, of either sex, who wishes to comprehend the allusions so frequently made by public speakers, lecturers, essayists, and poets, and those which occur in polite conversation."[3]
[edit] Recognition
"Thomas Bulfinch's study of mythology, which first appeared in 1855, is still the most popular and useful book on classical Greek mythology in English."[4]
"Popularly known as Bulfinch's Mythology, the volume became one of the most popular books ever published in the United States and the standard work on classical mythology for nearly a century..."[5]
"The Age of Fable, better known as Bulfinch's Mythology, written by Thomas Bulfinch (1796-1867) and first published in 1855, has long been a standard fixture in American homes, schools, and libraries. New editions still appear frequently."[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Guide to Reference Books, 1929, page 89
- ^ a b Miscuit utile dulci: Bulfinch's Mythology as a pedagogical prototype Classical World, Vol. 78, No. 6 (1985), page 591
- ^ Bulfinch, Thomas, The Age of Fable, or Stories of Gods and Heroes," Digireads.com Publishing, Stillwell, Kansas, 2007, page 6
- ^ Johnson, Claudia Durst, and Johnson, Vernon, Understanding the Odyssey: a student's casebook, Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport, Connecticut, 2003, page 28
- ^ Richard, Carl J., The Golden Age of the Classics in America, Harvard University Press, 2009, page 33
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