“We have drawn attention to a few points in which Dr. Westermarck has seemed to us unconvincing. We have intended this only as the criticism which makes appreciation significant. And for the book as a whole—for its learning, its open-mindedness, its catholicity, of interest—we have the warmest appreciation.”
+ + – Acad. 70: 521, Je. 2, ’06. 2520w. (Review of v. 1.)
“Westermarck’s great strength ... consists in his ability to assemble materials, and if he has a weakness, it is on the psychological side.” W. I. Thomas.
+ + – Am. J. Soc. 12: 127. Jl. ’06. 330w. (Review of v. 1.)
“Even suppose, however, certain shortcomings on the side of pure theory, this book remains an achievement unsurpassed in its own kind, a perpetual monument of the courage, the versatility, and the amazing industry of its author.”
+ + – Ath. 1906, 1: 692. Je. 9. 1820w. (Review of v. 1.)
“It may be partly owing to this special study, but largely no doubt also to a remarkably sympathetic and candid turn of mind that Dr. Westermarck presents this heterogeneous mass of evidence with so much understanding, and avoids those hasty generalizations and those uncomprehending judgments of alien races that so frequently characterize many writers, even among those who have dwelt long among the people they describe.”
+ + – Ind. 61: 997. O. 25, ’06. 1170w. (Review of v. 1.)
“The mass of information included in these chapters is wonderful. The use which Dr Westermarck makes of it, I have no pretensions to criticise. At any rate, everyone who reads this volume will look forward with impatience to the next.” J. Ellis McTaggart.