Andre Deutsch: London, UK, 1959.
 
First English edition. Hardcover. 8vo. 400pp. 16 b&w plates, 13 b&w illustrations. Red boards with title stamped in gilt on spine. Free end-papers toned, slight foxing to top edge of text-block else Very Good condition. Unclipped dust-wrapper has 1cm tear at tail of spine and very light shelf-wear at head of spine, Very Good condition in mylar wrapper. Jacket design by Francis Minnes, from a ‘passport’ issued by a society of Haitian sorcerers.
 
From the inside flap of the dust-wrapper:
 
‘Doctor Metraux’s description of Voodoo in Haiti is an anthropological study written for the general reader with some necessary sacrifice of detail but none of the essential truth.  The subject is one which needs no ‘popularisation’ to be popular.  Although many exotic exaggerations have been published, the facts themselves, without adornment, are so interesting that an accurate account of them must excite the imagination.’
 
‘Starting with the origins, history and social framework of the cult. Doctor Metraux goes on to describe its sanctuaries, its ritual. Its clergy and - most fascinating of all - the spirits on which it calls.  He has much to say on the phenomenon of possession, by which these spirits. Or loa, communicate with their worshippers.  He follows which chapters on dreams, mystical marriage, the cult of the dead, sacrifice, music and dance, the relationship between Voodoo and Christianity, and magic and sorcery - and impressive passage which the often prosaic nature of the facts is recognised without any diminution of the fear they inspire.’
 
‘Doctor Metraux has for years made a study of religious phenomena and syncretic cults.  He has often visited Haiti, sometimes spending long periods there.  From 1948 to 1950 he was head of a sociological survey of the Martial Valley.  He has become the trusted friend of several Hunan and mambo, the priests and priestesses of Voodoo.  These friendships will be further confirmed by his books, for rarely has an anthropologist written with so much humanity and understanding of the people among whom he made his researches.’
 
‘Voodoo, which is condemned in Haiti by the Church, has been severely restricted there, and is likely to die out.  It is fortunate that an observer with so much knowledge and sympathy was able to make so close a study of it in recent years.  Doctor Metraux’s book will be recognised by specialists and public alike as the most balanced, informative and evocative work on an enthralling subject.’
 
£150.