The aim of Dr. Tylor while devising this book was to give an introduction to Anthropology rather than a summary of all it teaches. Dr. Tylor belonged to that great period when Evolution was, so to speak, "in the air," when Herbert Spencer, Charles Darwin, Huxley, Lyell, Lubbock, and others, were broadening the outlook of nature and man. The book has amply fulfilled the hopes of the author, as is proved by the dozen odd subsequent editions and by the generations of students and other readers who have benefited by this admirable work. It is evident in reading the book that it was written by one who had made himself a master of the various branches of Anthropology and had pondered over its problems. It may be asked, why should the book be again reprinted in its original form? The answer is that there is no one competent to write a new work on similar lines. Doubtless a syndicate could be formed to under this task; but the contributions would probably fail in producing a well-balanced whole, and certainly the easy style and unity of thought which renders Anthropology so coherent would be lost. No student, scholar, or teacher can, or indeed should, be without Dr. Tylor’s little master-piece which has endured for years as a classic.
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