Victorian encyclopedism, folklore, and mythology
E. Cobham Brewer
1810 – 1897
Ebenezer Cobham Brewer was a British clergyman and lexicographer whose Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (first published 1870) became an indispensable Victorian reference work, cataloguing thousands of mythological figures, legendary tales, folk beliefs, proverbs, and occult terms from across world cultures and literature. His wide-ranging compilation systematized a vast wealth of European folklore and esoteric lore in a single accessible volume, making it a foundational quick-reference for researchers of mythology, legend, and popular belief. The dictionary went through numerous editions and continues to be revised, attesting to its enduring usefulness as a gateway to symbolic and mythological vocabulary.
Archive Paths
Hermeticism and Alchemy
Hermetic and alchemical source texts covering the Corpus Hermeticum, Divine Pymander, The Kybalion, Paracelsus, alchemical symbolism, medicine, and spiritual transformation.
Alchemy
Alchemy texts and commentaries covering transmutation, medicine, allegory, spiritual regeneration, and the symbolic language of the great work.
Comparative Mythology
Comparative mythology texts on gods, hero cycles, symbolic patterns, classical myth, Indo-European myth, and cross-cultural mythic structures.
Folklore Studies
Folklore studies texts on folk tales, fairy belief, superstition, regional customs, oral tradition, and the collection of vernacular belief.
Anthropology of Religion
Anthropological texts on ritual, animism, totemism, taboo, early religion, culture, and theories of belief formation.
Astrology and Divination
Astrology and divination texts on zodiacal symbolism, astrological doctrine, geomancy, dream interpretation, and related predictive arts.
Works in the Archive1 volume
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Astrology Today
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Placement Meanings
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Planetary Returns
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Retrograde Calendars
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