The Journal of the Anthropological Institute: Reports on African Beliefs

Record summary

The Journal of the Anthropological Institute published nineteenth-century papers based on African travel, missionary and administrative testimony, including discussions of ancestor worship, ghosts, witchcraft, dreams and funerary practice. It is a promising documentary trail because individual articles usually provide authors, locations and bibliographic references. The journal’s reports remain mediated by colonial observers and often use broad ethnic labels. Researchers should search article-level indexes and read cited primary materials rather than treating the journal’s comparative summaries as direct evidence of apparitions.