It is rather astonishing to read that "Because of this abandonment of his earlier work, his writings are often forgotten today." The truth is that he had an agenda and created faux histories to substantiate his agenda. Dresser's "earlier work" was not forgotten, but dismissed as fraudulent. In this case, Quimby did not found a religion and indeed was not religious. He used "mesmerism," which was in vogue during his day, to attempt to effect cures by the "laying on of hands" and human mind-control. Quimby was barely literate and many of the so-called "papers" where by others or later-written creations ("forgeries"). "Quimby" is a convenient, if thoroughly dis-proven, straw man used after his death to launch religious attacks on others. He was what he himself said he was, and that is not a religious healer nor founder of any religion.
If a reader wants to read some unbiased, fact-based history about Quimby (or Dresser for that matter), litigation-happy Dresser would not be the one to go to. Go to scholars, among whom Robert Peal or Gillian Gill stand out for their honest evaluations of both Quimby and Dresser.
