The Life of Mary Baker G. Eddy and the History of Christian Science

Milmine, Georgine. The Life of Mary Baker G. Eddy and the History of Christian Science. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, (1909) 1993.

This 1993 biography of Mary Baker Eddy is a reprint of the public domain book originally published as The Life of Mary Baker G. Eddy and the History of Christian Science, by Georgine Milmine. David Stouck, who authors the introduction and afterword of this edition, argues that Willa Cather, not Milmine, “is indisputably the principal author” of the original (xvii). It was compiled from a series of sensational articles researched by Milmine, edited by Cather, and published by McClure’s magazine. Until this reprint appeared, authorship of the book had been attributed solely to Milmine; however, “Cather’s involvement in the Christian Science series was greater than she chose to admit” (xvi). The reception of the original ‘Milmine’ biography (as it is often called) has appeared to faithful Christian Scientists as “the most hostile work written about Mrs. Eddy” (499), but very few reviews of the book were actually published, since, as “rumor has it… newspaper and magazine editors did not want to offend their Christian Science readers and advertisers” (498). The content of the book covers the early years of Eddy’s life and discovery of Christian Science, with a focus on the influence of Phineas P. Quimby, than other periods of Eddy’s life and work.

ISBN-10: 0803214537
ISBN-13 (Hardcover): 978-0803214538

See also annotations:

“The Standard Oil Treatment: Willa Cather, The Life of Mary Baker G. Eddy, and Early Twentieth Century Collaborative Authorship” by Ashley L. Squires

“On the Divide: The Many Lives of Willa Cather” by David Porter

Mary Baker Eddy: The Years of Trial by Robert Peel

Christian Science in the Age of Mary Baker Eddy by Stuart E. Knee

This resource is categorized as ‘polemic’ literature and is included in the bibliography for its historical value. For further explanation, click here.