The Henri Gaidoz Folklore Collection

The Henri Gaidoz Folklore Collection offers a rare opportunity to view the activity of Folklore Studies in 19th and early 20th centuries. The material was collected by M. Henri Gaidoz (1842-1932), a philologist and scholar of Celtic studies, and an expert in archaeology, religion, and mythology. From the holdings of the Folklore Collection at the Indiana University Library (Bloomington), these materials are now available to researchers around the world in ProQuest microfiche format.

The span of the collection encompasses more than 6,700 items and 100 years (primarily from the mid-19th to the early 20th centuries). M. Gaidoz, a noted author, professor, and researcher of his day, contributed greatly to the scholarly importance of Folklore Studies. His collection includes journal extracts, monographs and monograph excerpts, personal correspondence, and research notes. Of particular value are his handwritten notes that provide special insight into his research.

While the emphasis of the collection is French folklore studies and comparative folklore studies, the set has great interdisciplinary value, especially for researchers in Folklore Studies, Religion, Literature, French, Anthropology, European History, Celtic Studies, Mythology, and Philosophy.

The Gaidoz Collection includes over 100 subjects, such as, animals, history, fables, medicine, proverbs, saints, and werewolves.

The Gaidoz Collection is available as a complete set, or in five subject-based units.

Most of the collection is written in French – but the titles in English, or in other non-French languages, are available as separate units.

View the complete title list of the Henri Gaidoz Folklore Collection.

Customers may also select custom sets organized by subject (click here for a list of available subjects).

Unit 1: Folklore & Mythology (1,154 titles):

• Folklore
• Folklore as Science
• Folklore of Animals
• Folklore of the Human Body
• Folklore--Legendary Persons
• Folklore--Tales
• Mythology

Unit 2: Religion Part 1 (1,210 titles):

• African
• Asian
• Crosses
• Customs--Religious Survivals
• Gallic and Gallo-Roman
• Gnosticism
• Hell
• Holidays
• Relics
• Religions of Egypt
• Spiritualism
• Stigmatization
• Symbolism
• Syrian
• The Soul and Survival
• Zoroastrianism--Parsism and Mithraism

Unit 3: Religion Part 2 (1,579 titles):

• Bible
• Biblical Exegesis
• Birth and Baptism
• Patron Saints
• Religion and Mythology
• Saints
• Saints--Pilgrimages and Processions of France 51
• St. Christopher
• St. George

Unit 4: General Folklore Studies Part 1 (1,743 titles):

• Architecture
• Art
• Astronomy
• Atlantis
• Blason Populaire
• Medicine and Religion
• Medicine and the Occult Sciences 19
• Middle Ages
• Philosophy
• Psychology
• Sleep and Dreams
• Songs
• Tattooing

Unit 5: General Folklore Studies Part 2 (1,063 titles):

• Cults
• Customs
• Death and Burial
• Man, Prehistoric
• Numerals
• Oaths
• Occult Sciences
• Prophecies
• Symbolism
• Thunder

Language subsets

• English: 127 titles (view title list)
• Non-French international languages (Danish, Dutch, German, Latin, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Finnish, Russian, Bosnian, Rumanian, Chinese, Swedish, Polish): 290 titles (view title list)