The Ethnological Journal, Nos. 1-11, June 1848 - April 1849
London: Robert Stanton Swift, et al. printers, 1848-1849. Hardcover. Bound volume of 11 issues, each ca. 48-50 pp in length, in contemporary marbled boards , leather corners, later blue paper spine, good copy with foxing to preliminary and terminal pages, old bookplate from the Mattatuck Historical Society. Founded and edited by Luke Burke, who was also a member of the Ethnological Society of London, which started putting out its own journal in 1848; this is NOT to be confused with that journal of a similar title. In these first years of ethnology, as its principles and aims became codified, it was still considered a fringe science and overlapped with other such areas as phrenology and mythology. Thus, one of the first articles is on the destruction of Atlantis. Gliddon contributes a number of pioneering articles on Egyptian archaeology and ethnology, including hieroglyphics and mummification. Other articles on Native American culture and physiognomy, the "alleged" effect of exercise on musculature, variations in hair color in races, ancient monuments in Mississippi Valley, Norsemen in early America, etc. Possibly the journal lasted a number of years, but libraries' catalogers tend to confuse this with the journal put out by the ESL, so hard to say if this lasted more than 11 issues. 534 pp, paginated continuously, one lithograph plate of Egyptian hieroglyphs. Good. Item #H4314
Price: $300.00