In this volume, first published in 1921, Horatio Dresser compiles the writings of Phineas Quimby, the founder of the 19th-century "New Age" philosophy of New Thought. Quimby's manuscripts were much sought-after, and it was only through his personal friendship with Quimby and his family that Dresser was able to obtain them. Phineas Quimby developed his own religion based on Christianity and following the example of Jesus. He began with healing the mentally and physically ill and offering the healed the chance to read his ...
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In this volume, first published in 1921, Horatio Dresser compiles the writings of Phineas Quimby, the founder of the 19th-century "New Age" philosophy of New Thought. Quimby's manuscripts were much sought-after, and it was only through his personal friendship with Quimby and his family that Dresser was able to obtain them. Phineas Quimby developed his own religion based on Christianity and following the example of Jesus. He began with healing the mentally and physically ill and offering the healed the chance to read his manuscripts if they desired. In this book Quimby's rules for healing with the mind are revealed. Those interested in the history New Thought, Christian sects, mesmerism, and the power of the mind over the body will want to study these primary sources. American New Thought author HORATIO WILLIS DRESSER (1866-1954) wrote a number of books about mental health and spirituality including The Perfect Whole (1896) and In Search of a Soul (1897). Later in life, he left the New Thought movement and went to work at Harvard University, where he wrote about philosophy. Because of this abandonment of his earlier work, his writings are often forgotten today.
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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.
