A landmark collection marking the influence of Franz Boas. Essays that shaped a discipline. Compiled by Berthold Laufer as an anniversary volume, this anthropological essays collection gathers a wide-ranging set of ethnology academic papers that exemplify early 20th-century anthropology. Contributors combine careful description with analytical purpose, producing work that reads with clarity but carries the intellectual ambitions of a cultural studies anthology. The essays chart lines of comparative cultural analysis and fuel indigenous cultures research, contributing early foundations to what later became Native American studies. More than historical curiosity, these classic anthropological texts supply students and scholars with primary evidence of shifting methods and concerns: debates about classification, context and the meaning of cultural difference recur throughout. Accessible in tone yet uncompromising in scholarship, the volume serves equally well as an anthropology students resource and as a durable scholarly reference volume for anyone tracing the roots of modern ethnology. Historically significant, it testifies to the Franz Boas influence on field questions and interpretative frameworks, and stands as a notable example among historical anthropology works. Republished by Alpha Editions in a careful modern edition, this volume preserves the spirit of the original while making it effortless to enjoy today - a heritage title prepared for readers and collectors alike. The modern edition clarifies bibliographic details and offers unobtrusive editorial care that helps contemporary readers navigate early 20th-century scholarly prose without disturbing the original voice. For casual readers curious about cultural history, the book opens accessible pathways into foundational debates; for classic-literature collectors it represents a thoughtfully prepared classic anthropological texts acquisition. Scholars will value its role as a scholarly reference volume and anthropology students resource, while libraries and private shelves gain a document that charts the Franz Boas influence on successive generations of ethnologists. Concise, resonant and historically grounded, Laufer's anniversary volume is both a working reference and an evocative reminder of how anthropology matured into a modern discipline.