Christian Science in Germany

Christian Science has branch churches all over the world but the first country to see Science and Health translated into that country's non-English language was Germany. The history of Christian Science in Germany is more complicated than the account given by Frances Thurber Seal in her seminal history, but that history is the one that has set the template for the subject. The first edition, first issue of that book is quite rare, as is the slightly revised second issue. Here is a bibliographical look at that book:

 

Christian Science in Germany, by Frances Thurber Seal, C.S.B. Philadelphia: John C. Winston Co., [ca. 1931].

The first issue has “C.S.B.” on the title-page, but Mrs. Seal instructed the publisher to produce a second issue with that designation removed, using a cancel page for the title-page. This book was produced when thirteen friends of Mrs. Seal each contributed $150 to its production.

My collection includes a copy of the second issue, without “C.S.B.” on the title-page and without a reference to the book being published by the author. That copy is inscribed by the author to Abby Longyear Roberts, one of the daughters of Mary Beecher Longyear; the elder Longyear had passed away shortly before this book was published.

Mrs. Seal passed away in 1932, before she could issue additional copies of the book. (For more information, see Longyear Historical Review, Vol. 37, No. 2.) This book was reprinted in 1961 by Mary F. Barber. In my collection is a letter from Mary F. Barber to a Mrs. J. Friedman of Beverly Hills, California, dated March 29, 1961. Her letter read as follows:

“Your letter of the 24th to the Bond Printing & Publishing Service was turned over to me for reply. I had Mrs. Seal’s book reprinted at my own expense, and took over the entire edition, so the Bond people are not distributors, nor are they familiar with the book’s history.

The first edition was published by Mrs. Seal in 1931, printed by John C. Winston Company of Philadelphia. The book was out of print within a year, and became very rare, selling (when a copy came to light) at $50.00 here. The only place where it is to be obtained, and that infrequently, is from the Rare Book Co. of 93 Nassau St., New York. If it was your mind to try to obtain one of the first editions from the original publishers, I can tell you that they do not have any—not even, in fact, a single copy for their own files. I know of this because they were the first printers I was in contact with, when I undertook the second edition. They do not now bring out small editions.”

Separate from Frances Seal, the von Moltke family of Germany was heavily involved in the translating of Science and Health into German. A history of Dorothy von Moltke (who was born in South Africa with a British background and was not a native German speaker) was published many years later, as described below:

 Dorothy von Moltke [:] Ein Leben in Deutschland[,] Briefe aus Kreisau und Berlin 1907-1934, Eingelietet, übersetzt  und herausgegeben von Beate Ruhm von Oppen. München: C.H. Beck, 1999. 

Dorothy von Moltke married Helmuth von Moltke in 1905, and worked with him to translate Science and Health into German about 1911-1912.

The history of Dorothy and Helmuth is also covered briefly in a biography of their son, as given below:

Helmuth James von Moltke [:] Geschichte einer Kindheit und Jugend, von Jochen Kohler. Hamburg: Rowohlt Verlag GmbH, 2008. 

This biography includes the time when the von Moltkes lived in Boston about 1911—when Helmuth’s parents were translating Science and Health into German.

Finally, a history of Christian Science in Germany appeared in 2009 in German by a non-Christian Scientist:

Christian Science im Lande Luthers [:] Eine amerikanische Religionsgemeinschaft in Deutschland, 1894-2009, by Britta Waldschmidt-Nelson. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2009. 296 pages.

The author said she first came into contact with Christian Science as a guest student at the University of California at Davis in 1988. The book is not only a history of Christian Science in Germany but also in the United States as well.

Wikipedia says this about the author: "Britta Waldschmidt-Nelson is an Associate Professor of American History and Culture at the Amerika-Institut of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, from which she received her Dr. phil. in American History and Culture in 1997."

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Craig Beardsley]

Thanks for the latest post, Keith. An interesting passage in Richard Oakes' Brown Book, pp. 76-83, narrates some of the complexity of introducing Christian Science to the German culture, if only for linguistic reasons, and that Seal's relationship with the Board "...twenty-five years later..." (p. 82) had become strained--that certainly creates compelling interest in this phase of CS history.

I don't have the first rare edition but I do own a copy of the second; like your's, mine is also inscribed by Mrs. Seal but I don't recognize the name of the recipient.

I have a notation that Annette Herr was working on a history of CS in Germany, but I know nothing beyond that. I'm hoping that you and/or blog followers might know something of this. Also, it seems to me that some work was being done on CS in Nazi Germany but I have no notion of where I might have heard this. Again, anyone?