Du Culte Des Dieux Fetiches, Ou Parallele De L'ancienne Religion De L'egypte Avec La Religion Actuelle De Nigritie

Charles de Brosses

1760

[Fetishism]  Small octavo, 17 cm. Bound in contemporary mottled calf, raised bands. Gilt spine, marbled endpapers.  Page ends washed red.  Perforated stamp on title page, occasional marginal soiling. 285 pp.  <br>.  One of the most influential works of comparative religion written in the 18th century. In this work De Brosses introduced the concept of fetishism in religious practice worshiping animals and objects. "Brosses combated the then prevailing tendency to interpret ancient mythologies and religious systems, notably that of Egypt, as profound symbolism and upheld the thesis that ancient Egyptian religion did not differ substantially from the primitive cults of native Africa. The work, which the French Academy refused to print in its transactions and which gave rise to violent attacks, anticipates the modern anthropological method of approach to the history of religions." (Robert Briffault, Encyclopedia of Social Sciences) Brunet I 1277. Notably it contains the first historical occurrence of the word "fetichisme", later borrowed by Karl Marx in 1842 and used in his Capital (1867). See Roland Boer's Marxism and Religion: A Complete and Annotated Bibliography.