Resource Discussing The Mary Baker Eddy Library

Due to the long-standing debate over Mary Baker Eddy’s use of morphine, the Mary Baker Eddy Library sought to resolve it in order to restore focus on Eddy’s larger record. Calvin Frye’s diaries had recorded several instances of Eddy’s use of morphine, but some claimed his diaries had been altered. A forensic analysis in 2021 concluded the diaries are reliable.

Eder finds in Mary Baker Eddy’s writings about masculinity that Christian Science could not be practiced only as an ethereal form of religion (caricatured as a woman) but reflect “a discernible and repeated thrust to extend the reach of Christian Science thought and practice beyond the sheltered sphere of nineteenth-century feminine religiosity into the proving grounds of the public realm.”

This comprehensive 80-page chronology begins with the birth of Mary Baker Eddy in 1821 and ends with her funeral in 1910. In between, it includes the individuals, events, and publications connected to the multifaceted life of Eddy. The scholar can also tap into the Chronology’s extensive footnoting for source material.

Squires sees the opening of the Mary Baker Eddy Library as an opportunity for literary scholars to give closer attention to the history, doctrines, and distinctions of Christian Science. Only then will there be an honest and accurate account for the literature that seeks to represent or critique them. 

​​To aid scholars interested in researching primary source materials on the life of Mary Baker Eddy, the Mary Baker Eddy Library provides a summary of its vast holdings, including approximately 20,000 letters, articles, sermons, and other manuscript materials written by Eddy, nearly 8,000 letters written by her secretaries on her behalf, letters by approximately 7,000 different correspondents, and over 800 reminiscences.

Mary Baker Eddy wanted Dickey to write her biography, having rejected other biographical attempts as either too shallow or hostile. This book first consists of Baxter’s analysis of Dickey and his role as Eddy’s helper in her last years, and his own leadership role after her death in 1910. The latter half consists of Dickey’s memoirs which Eddy requested.

Shortly after the opening of the Mary Baker Eddy Library in 2002, Kniffel describes it as a dedication to the betterment of humanity, the quest for meaning, and the achievements of a remarkable woman. It is also neither a neutral public-information repository, nor a doctrinal library. Rather it strives to inspire individuals to explore the power of ideas.

Johnsen lamented one-dimensional portraits of Eddy either eulogizing her (Church’s sycophantic authorized literature), or demonizing her (attacks from ministers, physicians, press, disaffected students) because they were prone to report gossip as gospel. Due to the heavily guarded Church archives before the opening of the Mary Baker Eddy Library, perceptions of scholars were ruled by a tyranny of preconceptions.

This large anthology of primary and secondary sources is of great value to scholars because it was published in conjunction with the 2002 opening of the Church archives in the new Mary Baker Eddy Library. Some sections provide material not readily available in other published works, such as early family letters and images and transcriptions of pages from Eddy’s Bibles.