Bulfinch’s Mythology · Chapter
Publishers’ Preface explained
The publishers introduce Thomas Bulfinch, his background, and his works, explaining the additions made to this edition, including expanded Northern Mythology, British hero myths, and a revised index.
What happens
The publishers introduce Thomas Bulfinch, his background, and his works, explaining the additions made to this edition, including expanded Northern Mythology, British hero myths, and a revised index.
Themes in this chapter
Cultural Transmission and Education
The preface emphasizes Bulfinch's goal of making classical myths accessible to young or busy readers, and the publishers' efforts to expand the work for completeness.
Key passages
“The Age of Fable has come to be ranked with older books like Pilgrim’s Progress, Gulliver’s Travels, The Arabian Nights, Robinson Crusoe, and five or six other productions of worldwide renown as a work with which everyone must claim some acquaintance before his education can be called really complete.”
The Age of Fable is considered as essential to a complete education as classic works like Pilgrim’s Progress and Robinson Crusoe.
The publishers assert the book's canonical status in education.
“His leisure time he used for further pursuit of the classical studies which he had begun at Harvard, and his chief pleasure in life lay in writing out the results of his reading, in simple, condensed form for young or busy readers.”
In his free time, Bulfinch continued his classical studies from Harvard and enjoyed writing simplified versions of his readings for young or busy people.
Describes Bulfinch's personal motivation and audience.