Into the Archive: The Anatomy of Puck

(Not this cover.)

The Anatomy of Puck: An Examination of Fairy Beliefs Among Shakespeare’s Contemporaries and Successors (Hardcover ) Import, January 1, 1959

by K.M. Briggs (Author)

Katharine Mary Briggs (8 November 1898 15 October 1980), British folklorist and writer, who also wrote the four-volume A Dictionary of British Folk-Tales in the English Language, and various other books on fairies and folklore. From 1969 to 1972, she was president of the Folklore Society, which established an award in her name to commemorate her life and work. CONTENTS: The Air They Breathed; Opinions on Fairies in the Sixteenth Century; Opinions on Fairies in the Seventeenth Century; Shakespeare's Fairies; The Fashion for the Miniature; Hobgoblins and Devils; The Country Fairies in Masques, Plays and Poetry; The Fairies and the Practitioners of Magic; Fairies and Ghosts; Mermaids and Monsters; Spiritual Creatures. APPENDICES: Some of the Personae of Fairyland; Fairy-Tales Cited in the course of the book; Some other descriptions of fairies; Some Spells and Charms and the Letter of an Unsuccessful Magician; A list of Books Cited or Quoted. Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index. – AbeBooks

I’ve wanted to get this book for decades, probably since I became aware of Katherine Briggs in high school, definitely since college. The quest has been difficult: not only a book printed in another country, but on an obscure academic subject, and now published over sixty years ago? Even its 2007 paperback reprint is going for $70 (with another $40 for shipping), and that’s coming from Singapore.

 

Out of curiosity I checked eBay to see if there was any copy available there, and I found this elderly, ex-library hardback edition going for $130, shipping included.

 

That’s still $20 over the reprint, but the difference is negligible. I knew sudden hope and desperation. My birthday is approaching. I felt I had to take my shot.

It arrived on the 9^th of this month. It is in fair shape (original binding, but no jacket; fading gleaming gold letters on faery green) and has an odd, library smell. It is otherwise an original print (1959, Routland and Kegan Paul, London). It is the sort of volume I would have my executors take note of when liquidating my property, and not just stick it into some garage sale. It covers both my enthusiasms of Shakespeare and folklore. What better self-indulgence for a birthday present?

Other Katherine Briggs in the Archives;