The earliest of his publications is Custom and Myth (1884). In Myth, Ritual and Religion (1887) he explained the irrational elements of mythology as survivals from more primitive forms. Lang's Making of Religion was heavily influenced by the 18th century idea of the ble savage : in it, he maintained the existence of high spiritual ideas among so-called savage races, drawing parallels with the contemporary interest in occult phemena in England. His Blue Fairy Book (1889) was a beautifully produced and illustrated edition of fairy tales that has become a classic. This was followed by many other collections of fairy tales, collectively kwn as Andrew Lang's Fairy Books. In the preface of the Lilac Fairy Book he credits his wife with translating and transcribing most of the stories in the collections.[4] Lang examined the origins of totemism in Social Origins (1903).