Hand, Wayland Debs

1907–86, folklorist, b. Auckland, New Zealand. Hand wrote Popular Beliefs and Superstitions from North Carolina (1964), which is ranked among the finest published studies of superstition. It is remarkable for its logical arrangement of material, accurate comparative information, and completeness of informant attributions. Hand also wrote two volumes of essays on folklore and literature, Humaniora (1960) and Folklore International (1967), as well as Eyes on Texas: Fifty Years of Folklore in the Southwest (1967).