Poems by Mary Baker Eddy in various volumes of poetry

Mrs. Eddy's poems were collected over the years in various anthologies, starting in 1850 and going up to 1910, and here are I hope some of the more interesting ones:

Gems For You; From New Hampshire Authors. F.A. Moore, editor. Manchester, N.H.: William H. Fisk, 1850.

This is the first known book publication of any of the writings of Mary Baker Eddy, known in this book as Mrs. Mary M. Glover. In this book is the first printing known of her poem, "The Valley Cemetery" (pp. 176-177). Also in this book is her poem "Old Man of the Mountain" (pp. 112-13), which was first printed in The Floral Wreath, and Ladies' Monthly Magazine (Charleston, South Carolina) in July, 1844.

This book came out in many variant issues under different titles and with different decorative illustrations during the 1850's, but the same plates were used for each issue. In this collection are the following:

—Gems For You; A Gift for All Seasons. F.A. Moore, compiler. Manchester, N.H.: William H. Fisk, 1851.

—The Book of Gems; A Gift for All Seasons. Eugene Sinclair, compiler. Manchester, N.H.: William H. Fisk, 1854

—The Book of Gems; A Gift for All Seasons. Eugene Sinclair, compiler. Boston: Published by J. Buffum, 1856.

—A Gift for You, of Prose and Poetic Gems. Eugene Sinclair, compiler. Boston: G.W. Cottrell, 1859. [1857 and 1858 issues are known, in addition to undated issues, also a possibly later printing with fancy green binding.] Also in this collection is an unrecorded, undated version of this book with a special original binding with Select Poems on the cover and spine.

—Friendship's Offering, A Gift for All Seasons. Eugene Sinclair, compiler. Manchester, N.H.: Fisk & Stearns, 1858.

Also in this collection are the title-page, index, and the two poems by Mrs. Eddy which were removed from an 1857 issue of A Gift for You, of Prose and Poetic Gems.

Note: also in my collection is an 1850 edition with an inscription to Mary Gove, evidently in Mrs. Eddy's handwriting. This was evidently Gilbert Carpenter's copy at one point, since it has his handwriting on it. The name of the person who presented the copy is not given, and the word “present” is unusually ornate, but Jack Birss was convinced it was by Mrs. Eddy, and I believe he was correct.

A private collection includes a copy of the first edition, with a handwritten date of January 1, 1850, suggesting that the book was obtained on that date.

The Poets of New Hampshire, . . . Bela Chapin, compiler. Claremont, N.H.: Charles H. Adams, 1883.

On pp. 755-756 appears Mrs. Eddy's poem, "Old Man of the Mountain," which first appeared in print in 1844. This is one of Mrs. Eddy's most reprinted poems. Her name as author is given as Mary Morse Glover Eddy. The biographical information about her is given as follows:

“Mrs. Eddy was born in Sanbornton, July 16, 1821. Of late she has resided in Boston, and she has preached regularly on Sundays at the Hawthorne Rooms. She is author of an able metaphysical treatise, entitled, "Science and Health." She married firstly, G. W. Glover; secondly, D. Patterson; and thirdly, G. Eddy. She has one son, Geo W. Glover.”

Spanish-American War Songs: A Complete Collection of Newspaper Verse During the Recent War with Spain, compiled and edited by Sidney A. Witherbee. Detroit, MI: Sidney A. Witherbee, 1898.

Extremely rare and little-known. This otherwise unrecorded large book, with 984 pages, includes the first printing in a book of Mrs. Eddy’s poem, “The United States to Great Britain,” p. 348.

This poem first appeared in the Boston Herald, May 15, 1898. In this collection is the first reprint, which appeared in The Christian Science Journal, June, 1898. The poem by Mrs. Eddy was in response to a poem “On the Eve,” that appeared in the English newspaper, The Daily Chronicle and Clerkenwell News, April 22, 1898. (This information is based on a letter from Geoffrey Fingland to John Parrott in 1967, a copy of which is in the collection after it was provided by The Mother Church archives to Jack Birss in 1977. That poem had been incorrectly titled “Greeting from England” from “The London Chronicle.”)

My collection also includes the reprint of this poem that appeared in the Washington Newsletter, June 25, 1898. This poem later appeared in Poems (pp. 10-11) and My., p. 337.

My collection does not include a copy of what is believed to be the first separate printing of this poem, which is a card produced about June or July 1898 by Herbert L. Dunbar and sold by him. Jack Birss sold a copy of this Dunbar edition prior to my purchasing his collection, but the collection includes a photocopy of the edition.

The Concordia: Lines Written by Natives and Residents of Concord, New Hampshire. Alma Jane Herbert, compiler. Concord, N.H.: Rumford Printing Company, 1907.

Little-known collection of poems written by Concord residents. Mrs. Eddy's contribution, "Old Man of the Mountain," appeared on p. 79.

Comments

Thanks, Keith. I've posted comments on most of your "columns" when I've been able to add something I consider pertinent but poetical anthologies with MBE contributions is an area in which I haven't much to contribute. But I will ask if this constitutes "some of the more interesting ones," does that mean that it probably isn't comprehensive or most assuredly isn't--i.e., have you more volumes that exist or that you know about, or is this fairly comprehensive?

Posted by: Craig Beardsley | 09/19/2010 at 08:00 AM

Actually there aren't that many more, but Mrs. Eddy of course had her own book of Poems, along with her poems appearing throughout her writings and the CS hymnals. Also she had a poem in the Juvenile Sunday Book in 1850. I believe there are some later anthologies of poetry that have on or two item by her, but really there is not that much else that comes to mind (and we have already discussed the Alice Jennings book of poetry).

Posted by: Keith | 09/19/2010 at 02:12 PM