A surprisingly rare first edition

Christian Scientists are generally aware of the titles of Mrs. Eddy's articles in her collected Prose Works, but very often they are not that knowledgeable about the history of the articles and pamphlets collected there. Thus the relative rarity of a particular first separate printing is not known or appreciated. In the case of what is now called The People’s Idea of God, it has proven to be one of the rarest of Mrs. Eddy’s major works. There is no clear reason for that other than perhaps a shortage of funds in 1883 to promote it adequately. Here is a bibliographical description of the rare first edition:

The People's God. Its Effect on Health and Christianity, by Mrs. M. B. G. Eddy. Cambridge, MA: John Wilson and Son (University Press), 1883. 

As stated above, this is  one of the rarest of the first editions of Mrs. Eddy's major writings, even more so than the published first edition of Christian Science: No and Yes. A catalog for the Rare Book Company in 1931 advertised a copy of this first edition as "[o]ne of the few copies in existence." Ralph Geradi of the Rare Book Company told me in the 1980s that in over sixty years of specializing in Christian Science material, he had not seen more than ten copies of the first edition. I have a  copy that was advertised in the John Howell-Books catalog, but I purchased the copy from Jack Birss for $500, which Geradi thought was a good price. Amazingly, A. H. Greenly had three copies of the first edition, according to the catalog cards that he prepared for his collection. Greenly bought all three copies from Andrew McCance (the noted Boston book dealer and specialist in Christian Science material), in 1932 ($25), 1934 ($50), and 1939 ($50). Also in my collection is a copy of the 1886 second edition.

Note: for the bibliographical record, here is a description of the copyright edition of the 1883 first edition in the Library of Congress ([3]-13 pp.), which appears to be identical to the trade edition above:

Title-Page:

THE | PEOPLE’S GOD. | ITS EFFECT ON  | HEALTH AND CHRISTIANITY. | BY | MRS. M. B. G. EDDY, | PASTOR OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST. | [rule] | CAMBRIDGE: | JOHN WILSON AND SON. | University Press. | 1883

The pamphlet was copyrighted on August 10, 1883. The inside back wrapper is an advertisement for the Massachusetts Metaphysical College.

The pamphlet was later titled, The People’s Idea of God, and at the Mary Baker Eddy Library [A11372] is a document where at some point in a 1900 copy of People's Ideas of God, Mrs. Eddy changed the title to The True Idea of God, although this change was never made officially.

For those of you who are not bibliophiles, I will try to be sure to offer posts on other issues than just those that appeal to book collectors!   

Comments

[Craig Beardsley]

I've travelled fairly extensively while engaged in bibliographic work on CS history, and the only copy of this edition I believe I've seen was in the Keeley collection then housed at First Church of Christ, Scientist, Pasadena, California--another indication of the scarcity of which this post comments. I very much enjoy this kind of post and appreciate the varied and eclectic nature of all the posts thus far. Keep it up! I for one check this blog several times a day and find it richly fulfilling.

[Keith]

Thanks, Craig. I have been traveling so I have been a bit slow in adding new posts. I will try to come up with a balance of bibliographical posts compared to more historical posts that are not focused on publications. They are all interesting to me!

[Linda Bargmann]

Me too! I'm interested in it all :-)
Is there still a good collection at 1st Church Pasadena?

[Craig Beardsley]

No, Linda. It was acquired by "Boston" a while ago. I'd like to hear from someone who can shed light on that story. I've heard remors/accounts regarding its acquisition that I'd like to see verified or denied by some authoritative source.

[Keith]

Back in the days of the Archives, before everything was transferred to the Mary Baker Eddy Library, I recall an entire small room was set aside to hold the Keeley collection from Pasadena, but I don't know anything of how it came to sell to the Church other than I vaguely seem to recall hearing that they felt it had become a distraction and the Church had the facilities to take care of it. I also don't know if Mrs. Keeley was a little old lady from Pasadena.