 Posted Wednesday, March 19, 2008 9:09 PM
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| In 1921 "The Quimby Manuscripts" was published - edited by Horatio Dresser. This volume had two printings that year. The first printing had letters (printed and facsimile) from Mrs. Patterson (Eddy) to Quimby - the second printing of that same year omitted these letters. In the book, "Mrs. Eddy - The Truth and the Tradition" by John Dittemore, the author makes reference to the first printing as being the "suppressed edition". The author Edwin Franden Dakin, in referring to this first printing, stated that this volume was "exceedingly rare" (in 1929) - whereas the second printing was readily available. Does anyone have any DOCUMENTED information concerning what transpired and between whom?
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Posted Friday, March 21, 2008 8:17 AM
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Does anyone have any DOCUMENTED information concerning what transpired and between whom? I looked around a bit in my reference books and online but did not see any details regarding what happened. But I did confirm that two editions exist and will give you a quote below referring to pressure on the publishers to exclude materials about Mrs. Eddy from the second edition. I found the following comments on the web site horatiodresser.wwwhubs.com (click here for the link) "In the controversy over the matter of Mary Baker Eddy, founder of the Christian Science church, and her dependence upon Quimby, reference had been made often enough to the manuscripts, but Christian Scientists had even denied that such documents really existed. Now it was possible for anyone wondering about the relationship between Mrs. Eddy and Dr. Quimby to make their own investigation of the Portland healer's writings and determine for themselves what the probable relationship was. Along with the manuscripts, which Dresser edited so as to eliminate much of the repetitiousness of the originals, he included certain letters from Mrs. Eddy as well as quotations from articles she had published in various New England periodicals lauding the man through whom she had been healed. Heavy pressures upon the publishers led to the exclusion of this material from subsequent editions, but an electronic edition of the original first edition is now available for internet users to read on-line." (emphasis mine) I couldn't find the online edition referred to in the quote, but here's a link to the first edition which is offered on antiquebook.com, with the following description: "DRESSER, HORATIO W. (BORN 1866), ED, Quimby Manuscripts: Showing the Discovery of Spiritual Healing and the Origin of Christian Science.
NY: Thomas Y. Crowell Company Publishers, [1921]. 1st Edition, 1st printing. ...Scarce. "An important book for the history of religious psychotherapy, including Phineas Parkhurst Quimby's correspondence with Mary Baker Eddy" ..." I hope this gives you some leads to work with.
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Posted Friday, March 21, 2008 9:44 AM
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I believe this is the on line version of the 2nd edition which is interesting enough. http://www.sacred-texts.com/nth/qm/index.htm
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Posted Friday, March 21, 2008 9:49 PM
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| Thank you! That was pretty much what I was looking for. I appreciate your response.
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Posted Saturday, March 22, 2008 12:21 PM
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Hi,
You might also want to listen to this podcast from a CS Practitioner, Shirley Paulson at
http://tmcyouth.com/blogs/podcasts/christian-world/
She talks about the differences between Quimby and Mrs. Eddy's discovery. She mentions the gnostic gospels and New Age Christianity. I can't say her findings are valid. But, I suppose this is the Mother Church's position on the Quimby-Eddy matter.
Steve
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Posted Saturday, March 22, 2008 3:25 PM
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| Interesting. I listened to the podcast. Now that the Quimby Manuscripts are more easily available on-line, the speaker should have invited the audience to review them for themselves. I also always wondered how convenient it was for MBE to "discover" the truth right after Quimby died. The speaker also made it sound like MBE just talked with him a bit, which from the records appears to be a more in depth association. I found it deplorable that she likened the bad press aimed at MBE during her lifetime to the early church characterizing Mary Magdelene as a prostittute. Many scholars have determined that she was labeled such due to the position of the text, not because the early church was trying to slander her "gnostic" tendencies. Another interesting point she brought out was that in talking with other Christians, don't tell them what CS can do for them, but what it has done for themselves personally. That seems to be a real switch in their philosophy and is an easy out for a CS when faced with so many of us who have watched our loved ones suffer and die (and suffered ourselves) as well as the press regarding the deaths of children and spread of communicable diseases among the church. If that is their best argument, it is easily refuted by the many success stories of medical science and answered prayers all over the world of Christians from many denominations.
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