Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The history of human marriage (Volume I)

The history of human marriage (Volume I)

Westermarck, Edward

Paperback

AnthropologyGeneral ParentingGeneral World History

ISBN10: 9353700302
ISBN13: 9789353700300
Publisher: Alpha Edition
Published: May 1 2019
Pages: 600
Weight: 1.66
Height: 1.33 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English
How did humans decide who could marry whom, and why? In Volume I of The History of Human Marriage, Edward Westermarck turns a single institution into a sweeping map of culture. Marriage was never one thing. Written as a classic anthropology monograph at the height of nineteenth century anthropology, this comparative social science study draws on cross-cultural ethnology research to trace the origins of marriage customs across continents and centuries. Westermarck moves from courtship and taboo to kinship and family systems, weighing evidence for polygamy, monogamy and divorce with the cool precision of a field scientist and the moral curiosity of a historian. The result is an early, influential account of the evolution of social institutions, still cited wherever scholars ask how law, religion, economics and desire shape domestic life. Its pages illuminate debates on incest avoidance, exogamy, and the ties between bridewealth, inheritance, and status, making it invaluable beyond anthropology alone for readers of social history. It also speaks to modern readers interested in the sociology of family, the history of sexuality studies, and the deep patterns that sit beneath everyday assumptions. Out of print for decades and now republished by Alpha Editions, this is a complete unabridged edition restored for today's and future generations. More than a reprint -- a collector's item and a cultural treasure -- it belongs on the shelf of the serious classic-literature collector, and in the hands of anyone browsing for a university anthropology textbook or setting reading for a sociology of family course.

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