Find Experts & Sources
Sources Home

Bookshelf

Title Index Author Index Subject Index

For Journalists
& News Media

Sources Directory News Releases Event Calendar Submit a news release, Calendar event or job Media Names & Numbers
Authors Sources Bookshelf Sources Select Resources Complete Topic Index Topics by Category Français Download PDFs

Media Relations
& Publicity

Include yourself
in SOURCES FAQ Membership Form Subscriptions Submit a news release or Calendar event Sources Newsstand Sources HotLink Twitter Facebook Services Overview
    Home     News Releases Calendar     Contact        

Sources Bookshelf


A Dictionary of Superstitions

Opie, Iona; Tatem, Moira
Publisher:  Oxford University Press
Year Published:  2005   First Published:  1989
Pages:  494pp   Price:  $17.95   ISBN:  0-19-280664-5
Dewey:  001.9'6'03--dc20

Please see our media profile in Sources:
  Sources Select Resources

This paperback reissue of the 1989 original includes divinations, spells, cures, charms, signs and omens, rituals, and taboos. And, of course, it is arranged A - Z by term. Its scope is mainly coverage of those superstitions from Great Britain and Eire which survived into the twentieth century. These everyday domestic beliefs are tagged to some literary reference and some date. And it is cross-referenced for browsing.

Audience or interest level: writers, general public, reference book.

Some interesting facts: I am not quite sure why it is copyrighted 2005 since this is just a reissue of the 1989 original, with no visible signs of updating. It had also been reissued in 1992 and 1996.

What I don't like about this resource (its shortcomings): cheap paper and a modest binding, designed to keep the price down.

What I do like about this resource (its positives): it has an analytical index with no page references - just see and see also references to the dictionary entries.

Quality-to-Price Ratio: 91

[Review by Dean Tudor]

Subject Headings



© Sources 2023. The information provided is copyright and may not be reproduced in any form or by any means (whether electronic, mechanical or photographic), or stored in an electronic retrieval system, without written permission of the publisher.