by Andrew Lang

* * * * *

The consummate Victorian man of letters, Andrew Lang ( 1844-1912)
earned his living and reputation through witty journalism and eclectic scholar-
ship. The range of his literary efforts included a variety of genres: poetry, the
essay, history, biography, autobiography, literary criticism, and the novel.
His far-flung scholarly interests encompassed the history of his native Scot-
land, the Homeric epics, psychic research, anthropology, and folklore. The
breadth of his concerns is indicated by the articles which he contributed to the
ninth edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica ( 1875-1899): "Appari-
tions, " "Ballads," "The Casket Letters," "Crystal-gazing," "Fairy,"
"Family," "Edmund Gurney," "Hauntings," "La Cloche," "Moliére,"
"Mythology," "Name," "Poltergeist," "Prometheus," "Psychical Re-
search," "Scotland," "Second sight," "Tale,"and "Totemism."

As a folklorist, Lang was Britain's leading spokesman for the theory of the
unilinear evolution of cultures and championed that theory in a series of pub-

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