Busk, Rachel (1831-1907)

Rachel Harriette Busk (1831-1907), a British folklorist, remains known for her 1874 book The Folk-Lore of Rome, one of the most significant contributions to urban folklore in the 19^th century, and one of the few collections that paid serious attention to the circumstances of the ethnographic moment when stories and legends were told. Busk is the author of several books on the folklore of European countries, inspired by her travels; but unlike The Folk-Lore of Rome, they were only compilations of materials collected and published by others.

“‘Imagine I am the Creatura’: Biography of Rachel Busk, a British Folklorist in Europe”

David Hopkin, 2018

Rachel Busk is best known today for The Folk-Lore of Rome (1874), one of the most important contributions to urban folklore made in the nineteenth century and one of few studies from that period that paid attention to the contexts in which tales and legends were told. Busk wrote several other (…)

Primary sources

Busk, Rachel (1831-1907)

“‘Imagine I am the Creatura’: Biography of Rachel Busk, a British Folklorist in Europe”

Patrañas or Spanish Stories, Legendary and Traditional

Household Stories from the Land of Hofer

Valleys of Tirol: Their Traditions and Customs and How to Visit Them

The Folk-Lore of Rome, Collected by Word of Mouth from the People

The Folk-Songs of Italy

Evelyn Martinengo-Cesaresco (1852-1931)

Giuseppe Pitrè (1841/48-1916)