The Science of Religion in Britain, 1860-1915

327 Pages·2010·1.455 MB·English

by  Marjorie Wheeler-Barclay

The Science of Religion
in Britain, 1860–1915
Victorian Literature and Culture Series
Jerome J. McGann and Herbert F. Tucker, Editors
The Science of Religion
in Britain, 1860–1915
Marjorie Wheeler-Barclay
University of Virginia Press | Charlottesville and London
University of Virginia Press
∫ 2010 by the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
First published 2010
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wheeler-Barclay, Marjorie, 1952–
The science of religion in Britain, 1860–1915 / Marjorie Wheeler-Barclay.
p. cm. — (Victorian literature and culture series)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
isbn 978-0-8139-3010-7 (cloth : alk. paper) — isbn 978-0-8139-3051-0 (e-book)
1. Religion—Study and teaching—Great Britain—History—19th century. 2. Religion
historians—Great Britain—History—19th century. 3. Religion—Study and teaching—Great
Britain—History—20th century. 4. Religion historians—Great Britain—History—20th century.
I. Title.
bl41.w467 2010
306.60941%09034—dc22
2010007703
For Daryl and Reese
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1. The Study of Religion before 1860 17
2. Friedrich Max Müller The Annunciation of a New Science 37
3. Edward B. Tylor The Forging of an Anthropological Orthodoxy 71
4. Andrew Lang The Antipositivist Critique 104
5. William Robertson Smith A New Departure 140
6. James G. Frazer The Orthodoxy Monumentalized 181
7. Jane Ellen Harrison The Redefinition of Religion 215
Conclusion 243
Notes 257
Bibliography 289
Index 305
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Acknowledgments
In the course of writing this study I have received essential support—
intellectual, financial, and emotional—from many individuals and institu-
tions. It is a pleasure to attempt here to acknowledge some of these debts.
T. W. Heyck guided and advised me through the first stages of this project
many years ago, and his support and thoughtful criticisms were invaluable.
Many friends and colleagues encouraged me to persevere at times when I
doubted that this project would ever come to completion. I particularly wish
to thank Trent Foley, Carl Hester, Heidi Kunz, Jamie Rohrer, Melinda
Wheeler, and Sarah Wheeler. My colleagues in the Department of History at
Randolph College—Brad Geisert, Gerry Sherayko, John d’Entremont, and
the late Margaret Pertzoff—have extended support, friendship, and encour-
agement over more than twenty years.
Original research for this study was generously funded by the Alumnae of
Northwestern University, and I am grateful to Randolph College for profes-
sional development grants and sabbatical leaves that allowed me to continue
the research for this book. Thanks also to librarians and archivists at North-
western University, Randolph College, the British Library, the Bodleian Li-
brary, Trinity College and Newnham College in Cambridge, the Pitt Rivers
Museum, the Cambridge University Library, Senate House Library at the
University of London, and the University of St. Andrews.
I wish to thank the following institutions for permission to quote from
material held in their collections: the Principal and Fellows, Newnham Col-
lege, Cambridge; the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford; Bodleian
Library, University of Oxford; Archives, Imperial College London; and the