Edward Burnett Tylor

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Lore & Background

Edward Burnett Tylor was born in 1832 in Camberwell, London, the son of Joseph Tylor and Harriet Skipper, part of a family of wealthy Quakers who owned a London brass factory. His elder brother, Alfred Tylor, became a geologist. He was educated at Grove House School, Tottenham, but due to his Quaker faith and the death of his parents he left school at the age of 16 without obtaining a degree. After leaving school, he prepared to help manage the family business, but this plan was put aside when he developed tuberculosis at age 23. Following medical advice to spend time in warmer climes, Tylor left England in 1855 and travelled to the Americas. The experience proved to be an important and formative one, sparking his lifelong interest in studying unfamiliar cultures. During his travels, Tylor met Henry Christy, a fellow Quaker, ethnologist and archaeologist. Tylor's association with Christy greatly stimulated his awakening interest in anthropology and helped broaden his inquiries to include prehistoric studies. Tylor's first publication was a result of his 1856 trip to Mexico with Christy. His notes on the beliefs and practices of the people he encountered were the basis of his work Anahuac: Or Mexico and the Mexicans, Ancient and Modern (1861), published after his return to England. He continued to study the customs and beliefs of tribal communities, both existing and prehistoric, and published Researches into the Early History of Mankind and the Development of Civilization in 1865. Following this came his most influential work, Primitive Culture (1871). Tylor was appointed Keeper of the University Museum at Oxford in 1883, and served as the first Reader in Anthropology from 1884 to 1895. In 1896 he was appointed the first Professor of Anthropology at Oxford University. He was also closely involved in the early history of the Pitt Rivers Museum and acted as anthropological consultant on the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary.

Reader's Guide

Tylor's significance lies in his role as a founding figure of social anthropology and his formulation of cultural evolutionism. In Primitive Culture (1871) and Anthropology (1881), he defined the scientific study of anthropology based on the evolutionary theories of Charles Lyell. He believed there was a functional basis for the development of society and religion, which he determined was universal. Tylor maintained that all societies passed through three basic stages of development: from savagery, through barbarism to civilization. He reintroduced the term animism (faith in the individual soul or anima of all things and natural manifestations) into common use, regarding animism as the first phase in the development of religions. His work influenced a generation of scholars, including J. G. Frazer, who became his disciples and contributed greatly to the scientific study of anthropology. Tylor also believed that research into the history and prehistory of man could be used as a basis for reforming British society. His definition of culture from Primitive Culture — 'that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society' — remains one of his most widely recognised contributions to anthropology and the study of religion.

Did You Know?

• Tylor left school at age 16 without obtaining a degree due to his Quaker faith and the death of his parents.
• He developed tuberculosis at age 23 and travelled to the Americas in 1855 on medical advice, which sparked his interest in studying unfamiliar cultures.
• Tylor met fellow Quaker ethnologist Henry Christy during his travels, which greatly stimulated his awakening interest in anthropology.
• He was appointed the first Professor of Anthropology at Oxford University in 1896.
• Tylor acted as anthropological consultant on the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary.

A Quaker's Unlikely Path to Anthropology

Tylor was born in 1832 in Camberwell, London, into a well-off Quaker family that operated a brass factory. His parents, Joseph Tylor and Harriet Skipper, raised him alongside an elder brother, Alfred, who would later pursue geology. Tylor attended Grove House School in Tottenham but departed at sixteen without earning a degree, a decision shaped by both his Quaker convictions and the loss of his parents. He initially set about preparing to manage the family business, yet at twenty-three a diagnosis of tuberculosis derailed those plans entirely. Physicians urged him to seek warmer climates, and in 1855 he left England for the Americas. That journey proved to be the defining turning point of his life: encountering unfamiliar peoples and customs ignited a fascination that would consume his career. During his travels he crossed paths with Henry Christy, a fellow Quaker working as an ethnologist and archaeologist. Their association deepened Tylor's awakening curiosity about human cultures and broadened his inquiries into prehistoric studies, setting the intellectual trajectory he would follow for the remainder of his life.

Building a Discipline at Oxford

Tylor's first major publication, Anahuac: Or Mexico and the Mexicans, Ancient and Modern (1861), grew directly from field notes he gathered during an 1856 trip to Mexico alongside Christy. He followed this with Researches into the Early History of Mankind and the Development of Civilization in 1865, and then produced what would become his most influential work, Primitive Culture, in 1871. His academic life became firmly anchored at Oxford, where in 1883 he was appointed Keeper of the University Museum. From 1884 to 1895 he held the title of the first Reader in Anthropology, and in 1896 he was elevated to the university's first Professor of Anthropology. He was also closely involved in the early development of the Pitt Rivers Museum, which stood adjacent to the University Museum, and he served as an anthropological consultant on the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. In 1907, on the occasion of his seventy-fifth birthday, colleagues presented him with a festschrift containing essays from twenty anthropologists, a fifteen-page appreciation by Andrew Lang, and a comprehensive bibliography compiled by Barbara Freire-Marreco.

The Architecture of Cultural Evolutionism

Tylor's intellectual framework was firmly rooted in nineteenth-century cultural evolutionism, drawing on the evolutionary theories of Charles Lyell rather than on Darwin's biological model. He argued that a functional basis underlay the development of both society and religion, and that this foundation was universal across human populations. Central to his thinking was the conviction that all societies progress through three broad stages: savagery, barbarism, and civilization. His method was one of comparative and historical ethnography; he sought a uniformity in culture produced by the uniform action of uniform causes, treating parallel ethnographic practices as evidence of underlying laws of human thought and action. This evolutionary stance stood in contrast to diffusionism, which explained cultural similarities as the spread of innovations from a single source of origin. Tylor's work thus helped establish the scientific study of anthropology as a discipline, providing a structured framework within which the history and prehistory of humanity could be systematically investigated.

Animism, Influence, and a Broader Vision

One of Tylor's most enduring contributions was reintroducing the term animism into common scholarly usage. He defined it as the faith in an individual soul or anima inhabiting all things and natural manifestations, and he positioned it as the earliest phase in the development of human religion. His influence extended well beyond his own publications. Primitive Culture in particular shaped a generation of younger scholars, including J. G. Frazer, who became a devoted disciple and went on to make major contributions to the scientific study of anthropology. Tylor also saw his work as serving a practical social purpose: he believed that research into the history and prehistory of humankind could serve as a foundation for the reform of British society. As a founding figure of social anthropology, his scholarly output helped build the discipline throughout the nineteenth century, and his ideas continued to resonate within the Classical British Evolutionary School, which grouped him alongside Robert Ranulph Marett, Henry James Sumner Maine, John Ferguson McLennan, and Frazer.