author
Edward B. (Edward Burnett) Tylor
1832–1917
A pioneering Victorian thinker, he helped shape anthropology into a serious field of study and gave enduring force to the idea that culture can be studied systematically. Best known for Primitive Culture, he also introduced a famous early definition of culture that influenced generations of scholars.
4 Audiobooks
Primitive culture, vol. 2 (of 2) : Researches into the development of mythology, philosophy, religion, language, art, and custom
by Edward B. (Edward Burnett) Tylor
Primitive culture, vol. 1 (of 2) : Researches into the development of mythology, philosophy, religion, language, art, and custom
by Edward B. (Edward Burnett) Tylor
Anthropology : an introduction to the study of man and civilization
by Edward B. (Edward Burnett) Tylor
Anahuac : or, Mexico and the Mexicans, Ancient and Modern
by Edward B. (Edward Burnett) Tylor
About the author
Born in London in 1832, Edward Burnett Tylor became one of the central figures in the early development of anthropology. Britannica describes him as an English anthropologist widely regarded as a founder of cultural anthropology, and his long association with Oxford included becoming its first professor of anthropology.
Tylor is especially remembered for Primitive Culture (1871), a major work that explored religion, myth, and social development through an evolutionary lens common in 19th-century scholarship. His writing on animism and his broad definition of culture made a lasting mark, even though some of his ideas now reflect the limits and assumptions of his era.
He died in 1917, but his influence has lasted far beyond his lifetime. Readers coming to his work today will find both a key source for the history of anthropology and a window into how Victorian scholars tried to make sense of human belief, custom, and society.