Lewis Spence

Legends and Romances of Brittany (Illustrated Edition) (Dodo Press) Lewis Spence Illustrated edition

James Lewis Thomas Chalmbers Spence (1874-1955) was a Scottish journalist, whose efforts as a compiler of Scottish folklore have proved more durable than his efforts as a poet and occult scholar. After graduating from Edinburgh University he pursued a career in journalism. In 1899 he married Helen Bruce. He was an editor at The Scotsman 1899-1906, editor of The Edinburgh Magazine for a year, 1904-05, then an editor at The British Weekly, 1906-09. In this time his interest was sparked in the myth and folklore of Mexico and Central America, resulting in his popularisation of the Mayan Popul Vuh, the sacred book of the Quiche Mayas (1908). He compiled A Dictionary of Mythology (1910 and numerous additional volumes). He wrote about Brythonic rites and traditions in The Mysteries of Britain (1905). His 1940 book Occult Causes of the Present War seems to have been the first book in the field of Nazi occultism. He also wrote poetry, collected in 1953.