RUSSIAN FOLKLORE

Another contribution in cooperation with the American Council of Learned Societies, to our fuller knowledge of the series of texts now in use in Soviet schools. This is not a collection of Russian folk tales and songs, but a definitive exposition of the nature of Russian folklore seen here as a peculiarly nationalistic expression of the people and a basis for the formation of a political philosophy in the tradition of Engel's judgments in the study of anthropology. A scholarly survey of folklore of all kinds from the ancient oral traditions through the work of the present day Soviet poets who have incorporated these older elements into their work, this will be of value to the scholarly few who have the necessary background of both Russian literature and folklore, or the means to take advantage of the exhaustive bibliography to do extensive collateral reading in the field. Carefully annotated and liberally illustrated with excerpts from the particular form of folklore under discussion, this fills a gap in existing material in the field, which will give it long range if immediate sharp limitations to the saleability. A few large Public Libraries, having extensive reference material in folklore, will be particularly interested.