Clara Louise Burnham - author of "Jewel" and "The Right Princess"

Book club for November – Unity of Good by Mary Baker Eddy

I know this is a wonderful book – I carry a booklet-type copy in my purse.  It is such a comfort to have it always there, especially when one is doing some waiting in the car or elsewhere.  It is looking somewhat battered, but still holds its truths secure.

The little book Jewel (author Clara Louise Burnham) often comes to mind when I think of Unity of Good.  It is a long time since I read Jewel and the story is not fresh in memory, but I do remember that a young engaged (I think) couple said how much they appreciated Unity of Good, which, I had the impression, was then fresh off the press.  Perhaps this is not so, because I see that it was first copyrighted in 1897.  (However, the story could be set earlier, couldn’t it?  After all, it is fiction.)

I think my wonder at first reading that little episode was that such a young couple would appreciate the truth so well, and what a blessing that would be on the coming marriage.  I was a fairly new student of Christian Science at that time.

The copy of Jewel, which I read on loan, was much loved and worn.  No doubt the child in the family had loved it very much.

I have just ordered a copy for myself through the Internet.

Some delving on the Internet has told me that Jewel was published in 1903.  There is a whole page on Clara Louise Burnham on the Mary Baker Eddy Library site.  Here are some excerpts:

Burnham, a Christian Scientist, sent an advance copy of The Right Princess to Mary Baker Eddy, which Eddy enjoyed reading, saying that the novel was “a rare production in the line of fiction.” [L08337] Eddy praised The Right Princess and Jewel in private and in public. After receiving a copy of Jewel, she sent copies to her cousin Hon. Henry Moore Baker—a New Hampshire lawyer and politician—and to Edward Augustus Jenks—a local poet. Eddy reported to Burnham that both men “were pleased with it.” [L08340]

The Christian Science Sentinel printed an announcement by Eddy praising The Right Princess. Eddy said of Burnham: “The author dissects character with the skill of a metaphysical surgeon: she uses the knife and leaves the patient healed. She has portrayed a Christian Scientist with simplicity and candor: her pen is the pencil of an artist.” (“Question Answered,” October 2, 1902, p. 72)

Eddy’s endorsement of The Right Princess and her reconsideration of that endorsement meant that she also had to reconsider the role of The Christian Science Publishing Society in advertising and selling such literature. On September 25, 1902 she sent a telegram to Burnham saying “God has spoken and this, it is not right for Christian Science press to advertise fiction in any form.” [L09170] Simultaneously Eddy also made an amendment to the Church Manual By-Law “Rule of Conduct” (now Article XXV, Section 7), adding the sentence “Novels shall neither be advertised nor sold by the Christian Science Publishing Society.” This sentence was published in the 27th and 28th editions of the Church Manual (both 1902).

Joyce Voysey