Patterns of Culture – Ruth Benedict – 1934

Patterns of Culture by Ruth Benedict, published by Houghton Mifflin Company / The Riverside Press, copyright 1934.

A landmark work of cultural anthropology in which Benedict argues that each human culture forms a coherent pattern of behavior and values, much like an individual personality, shaped by the selective adoption of available cultural traits.

Drawing on her fieldwork and that of her colleagues, she presents detailed studies of three contrasting societies: the Pueblo peoples of New Mexico, the Dobu of Melanesia, and the Kwakiutl of the Pacific Northwest.

The book concludes with a broader examination of the relationship between the individual and culture, and a plea for social tolerance grounded in cultural relativism. One of the most widely read and influential works in twentieth-century anthropology.

Condition: Coral red cloth hardcover with black lettering on spine; no dust jacket. Boards show general wear, soiling, and fading, with significant rubbing and loss to the spine. A bookplate from the Library of Putnam Hall, University of California Residence Halls, Berkeley is affixed to the front pastedown. Interior pages show age toning and a library stamp; binding is tight.