Mrs. Eddy: Her Life, Her Work and Her Place in History

Studdert-Kennedy, Hugh A. Mrs. Eddy: Her Life, Her Work and Her Place in History. San Francisco: The Farallon Press, 1947.

Studdert-Kennedy came from England to the United States to work at The Christian Science Monitor shortly after its establishment in 1908. He withdrew from membership in the Christian Science Church in 1923 but continued to identify as a follower of Mary Baker Eddy. This unique outsider-insider perspective is apparent in this biography. He seeks to present a full, frank, and generally appreciative picture of Eddy’s life and thought, and details her development in ways not portrayed at that date in biographies published by her Church. Studdert-Kennedy met and corresponded with Church leaders while writing, and his manuscript was evaluated by the Church’s historian, although the author did not have access to the Church archives. Interestingly, Studdert-Kennedy draws on Bates-Dittemore but is critical of their biography of Eddy. Studdert-Kennedy’s jaunty style is by turns dated and refreshing as he moves chronologically through Eddy’s life, with several forays into important or controversial aspects of her thought. Studdert-Kennedy died before his book was published. His widow entrusted the manuscript to Arthur B. Corey, whom she later married. Corey added his own anti-organizational gloss to it as a self-styled expert on Eddy and a dissident critic of her Church. These additional glosses and revisions are a factor in making sense of Studdert-Kennedy’s book.

ISBN-10: 1406738891
ISBN-13 (Softcover): 978-1406738896
ISBN-13 (Hardcover): 978-0343255459