This controversial biography of the founder of the Christian Science church was serialized in McClure's Magazine in 1907-8 and published as a book the next year. It disappeared almost overnight and has been difficult to find ever since. Although a Canadian mewspaperwoman named Georgine Milmine collected the material and was credited as the author, The Life Of Mary Baker G. Eddy was actually written by Willa Cather, an editor at McClure's at that time. In his introduction to this Bison Book edition, David Stouck reveals new evidence of Cather's authorship of The Life of Mary Baker G. Eddy. He discusses her fidelity to facts and her concern with psychology and philosophy that would take creative form later on. Indeed, this biography contains "some of the finest portrait sketches and reflections on human nature that Willa Cather would ever write."

This biography of an influential 19th-century woman follows Mary Baker Eddy from obscurity to her enormous fame as an eminent thinker and religious leader. From her Puritan upbringing, throughout her life of compassion for others and devotion to God, you can watch her development as an insightful student of the Bible and her rediscovery and practice of healing in the name of Christ Jesus. It also tells of her work to support and spread the practice of this Bible-based healing method: writing Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures; founding The Church of Christ, Scientist; teaching metaphysical healing; and founding and publishing magazines and The Christian Science Monitor--all of which continue today.

The third volume in the trilogy of the life of Mary Baker Eddy, the founder and discoverer of Christian Science, from 1901-1910.

Famed science writer Martin Gardner had intended to write a short essay about Mrs. Eddy, but he became so fascinated by her life and personality that his work grew to book length. Written with humor, insight, and a wealth of detail, this book will delight sceptics and infuriate true believers.

“Gottschalk distinguishes himself by placing Christian Science in the larger context of American religion . . . sheds new light on Eddy’s life and work.” —Publishers Weekly This richly detailed study highlights the last two decades of the life of Mary Baker Eddy, a prominent religious thinker whose character and achievement are just beginning to be understood. It is the first book-length discussion of Eddy to make full use of the resources of the Mary Baker Eddy Collection in Boston. Rolling Away the Stone focuses on her long-reaching legacy as a Christian thinker, specifically her challenge to the materialism that threatens religious belief and practice. “Gottschalk has provided readers with a masterful account of Christian Science in its heyday. This book is a first-rate read for students of American religion and provides a look into how one of the country’s more complex religious figures dealt with materialism in the late-nineteenth-century America.” —Religious Studies Review “Gottschalk does a superb job of providing historical context for the chaotic events of Eddy’s final decades.” —Choice “Gottschalk’s account is well told and enriched by fresh material now available from the Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity.” —Christian Science Monitor “The book includes a great deal of fresh research and honest scholarship . . . for the individual wanting to sink his or her teeth into a serious study of Eddy . . . you have a lot to look forward to in reading this book.” —The Christian Science Journal

Historian Robert Peel traces the influences of Eddy's life, from her early years through the time of her discovery of Christian Science and the publication in 1875 of Science and Health, the primary work on Christian Science.