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Object of the Month
Mary Baker Eddy's Horses
August 2010
From a very young age, Mary Baker Eddy loved horses. Years later she recalled calming her father’s work horses as a child, and always found the quiet, gentle rocking motion of a carriage ride to be a comfort. "I have uttered some of my best prayers in a carriage," she told William Rathvon in November 1910. [Reminiscence File of William Rathvon, p. 81, The Mary Baker Eddy Collection] Read more…
A Birthday Gift and a Special Visit
July 2010
July 16, 1910, was Mary Baker Eddy's 89th birthday. That morning two of the trustees of Eddy's estate, Archibald McLellan and Irving Tomlinson, met George Washington Glover III and Andrew Jackson Glover at the Parker Hotel in Boston. The Glover boys were Eddy's youngest grandchildren. They had come East for a few weeks' vacation and hoped to see their grandmother. Arrangements were made through their family lawyer and host, Sen. William E. Chandler. Read more…
Daniel’s Answer to the King
June 2010
Mary Baker Eddy’s Pleasant View and Chestnut Hill homes were filled with artwork, and pieces with a spiritual message were her favorites. She was thrilled when her student Julia Field-King sent her an engraving by Joseph Bishop Pratt of Briton Riviere’s famed painting “Daniel’s Answer to the King.” Read more…
Spring Tide at Pleasant View
May 2010
Springtime in New England is a season of change. It begins with icy cold, proceeds to rain and mud, and finally—blooms with greenery and flowers. A writer for the Daily Patriot, a Concord, N.H., newspaper, wrote about this final stage of spring when describing the grounds of Mary Baker Eddy’s home, Pleasant View. “Not all the people in Concord know what a paradise Mrs. Read more…
Nineteenth Century Shell Cameos
April 2010
Found among the pieces in the jewelry collection linked to Mary Baker Eddy are three nineteenth-century cameos. Staff recently dated and identified one cameo as worn by Eddy in one of the earliest photographs owned by the Library—more on this exciting discovery below. What is a cameo? For many of us, when we hear the word cameo, what springs to mind is the ubiquitous Victorian pin or pendant showing the profile of a lovely woman. Read more…
Mary Baker Eddy's Copybooks
March 2010
Copybooks were frequently used in the first half of the nineteenth century. The Oxford English Dictionary tells us that they are books in which “copies are written or printed for pupils to imitate” (1971 printing). They were used by students, teachers, writers, and working professionals for practicing penmanship, learning grammar, and spelling, with a focus on accuracy, attention to detail, and memory. Read more…
Chafing Dish Possibilities by Fannie Merritt Farmer
February 2010
Many of us enjoy sharing good food with family and friends, and Mary Baker Eddy was no different. As Eddy’s cook from 1899-1907, Minnie Weygandt stated in her reminiscences she kept lists of the meals she cooked in the house and kept track of favorite recipes. The Library has in its collections some of the books that Weygandt selected recipes from, including two copies of Chafing Dish Possibilities by Fannie Merritt Farmer, in the rare book collection in Lending and Reference Services. Read more…
Turkey Feather Fan
January 2010
A student of Mary Baker Eddy once commented, “Mrs. Eddy seemed to care little for the large or expensive presents given her by her followers, but she called … attention with delight to a fan made of turkey feathers …” (Reminiscence File of Emma Shipman, The Mary Baker Eddy Collection). This turkey feather fan was a gift from two of her followers, Elizabeth Earl Jones and Lily Hazzard, and it sheds light on the early history of African-Americans in Christian Science. Read more…
Winter at Pleasant View
December 2009
As we look at photographs of life at Pleasant View, Mary Baker Eddy’s home in Concord, N.H., it’s fascinating to see a quiet New England town of a century ago. These images give us a glimpse of winter, at a time when life was different than today. One important distinction—transportation did not include automobiles; horse-drawn carriages and streetcars were the norm. Walking was common for many. Read more…