International folkloristics is a worldwide discipline in which scholars study various forms of folklore ranging from myth, folktale and legend to custom and belief. Twenty classic essays, beginning with a piece by Jacob Grimm, seek to reveal the evolving theoretical underpinnings of folkloristics from its 19th-century origins to its academic coming-of-age in the 20th century. Each piece is prefaced by editorial introductions placing them in a historical and intellectual context.