A Classic of English Literature Was Born on This Day in History: April 25, 1719

Receive our blog posts in your email by filling out the form at the bottom of this page.

“All our Discontents about what we want, appeared to me, to spring from the want of Thankfulness for what we have….‘Tis never too late to be wise.” — Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe (1719, 1868), pp. 131-132, 178

The classic tale of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe was first published on April 25, 1719. Supposedly inspired by the real-life experiences of castaway Alexander Selkirk, Defoe’s novel pioneered the literary genre now known as the Robinsonade.

While the story of Crusoe’s adventures on the island and his later travels all around the world are legendary, the life of the author is in many ways just as intriguing, as James O. Murray tells us in The Author of Robinson Crusoe (1890). Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) lived through tumultuous times in English politics, and used his pen to craft some of the most memorable stories in English literature, often with a satirical wit biting enough to land him in prison. He was a Protestant dissenter who seems to have borrowed the last name of his protagonist from his friend and classmate, Puritan Timothy Cruso, author of God the Guide of Youth (1695), a sermon whose passages in some cases are mirrored in Robinson Crusoe.

I am monarch of all I survey,
My right there is none to dispute;
From the centre all round to the sea
I am lord of the fowl and the brute.
O Solitude! where are the charms
That sages have seen in thy face?
Better dwell in the midst of alarms
Than reign in this horrible place.
…
There's mercy in every place,
And mercy, encouraging thought!
Gives even affliction a grace,
And reconciles man to his lot. — William Cowper, Verses, Supposed to be Written by Alexander Selkirk, During His Solitary Abode in the Island of Juan Fernandez (1793)

An 1820 edition of Robinson Crusoe was published in Latin by Joseph P. Engles, author of the Catechism For Young Children. As a young man, Timothy Flint “was extravagantly fond of books of voyages and of travels. He disliked the cities and delighted to imagine himself in the position of Robinson Crusoe” (Timothy Flint: Pioneer, Missionary, Author, Editor, 1780-1840 [1911], p. 33). Robinson Crusoe was a favorite read of the future pastor of the Old Pine Street Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Thomas Brainerd (Life of Rev. Thomas Brainerd, D.D., For Thirty Years Pastor of Old Pine Street Church, Philadelphia [1870], p. 21). Missionary William P. Alexander once visited “Juan Fernandez, the famous residence of Alexander Selkirk, alias Robinson Crusoe” in 1832 (Mission Life in Hawaii: Memoir of Rev. William P. Alexander [1888], p. 31). Southern Presbyterian minister and author F.R. Goulding was directly inspired by Defoe to write Robert and Harold: or, The Young Marooners on the Florida Coast (1852). W.G.T. Shedd’s edition of the works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Vol. 4 [1856]) includes Coleridge’s notes on Robinson Crusoe. Thomas Smyth wrote of the literature he enjoyed in his youth, remarking that “Robinson Crusoe was a great favourite” (Autobiographical Notes, p. 11, [1914]). Henry H. Jessup reports sharing an Arabic translation of Robinson Crusoe with a gentleman in Fifty-Three Years in Syria, Vol. 1 (1910). James F. and Harriet H. Holcomb wrote of the influence of Robinson Crusoe in their missionary experiences in In the Heart of India; or, Beginnings of Missionary Work in Bundela Land (1905), pp. 186-187.

These are but a fraction of the known references to this literary classic among Presbyterian authors at Log College Press. A book whose influence has spanned the globe and inspired millions is worthy of remembrance on this day in history. Happy birthday, Robinson Crusoe!

Three Wrights at Log College Press

Receive our blog posts in your email by filling out the form at the bottom of this page.

Three years ago we introduced to our readers the famous 19th century author, Mrs. Julia McNair Wright (1840-1903), who penned numerous biographical sketches and works of fiction, primarily aimed at younger readers. Today, on his birthday, we introduce her husband, the also noteworthy Rev. Dr. W.J. Wright (August 3, 1831-February 26, 1903).

Born at Weybridge, Vermont, the latter Wright graduated from Union College in Schenectady, New York in 1857. After a brief period spent teaching and in the practice of law, he pursued theological studies, first at Union Theological Seminary (New York), and then at Princeton Theological Seminary, graduated from there in 1862. From 1863-1865, he served as a chaplain in the U.S. Army. Except for a two-year period spent studying in Europe (1871-1873), he served as pastor of several congregations in New Jersey, Ohio and West Virginia. Briefly, he served as professor of mathematics at the Wilson Female College in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania (1876-1877), but more significantly, he served as the chair of metaphysics and as vice-president at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri (1887-1899). Author of several tracts of mathematics, he was the first American admitted to the London Mathematical Society. Like his wife, he was a contributor to The Presbyterian Quarterly, including one article on the powerful but unBiblical legacy of Darwinism, a generation after the hypothesis was first proposed.

Married in 1859 to his bride, it was Julia McNair Wright who became a 19th century household name, rather than her husband. It was in that year that Mrs. Wright published her first story, beginning a long and successful career as an author of so many works of a biographical, fictional, Biblical and scientific nature. Her pen was particularly active in the late 1860s and early 1870s, when numerous articles and stories appeared in the press, including two sets of 12 volumes each: True Story Library No. 1 and No. 2. She often focused on the temperance cause, or on anti-Catholic stories, but the diverse range of her interests was tremendous, and included some translation work. Her particular forte was in writing to young readers to stimulate minds and hearts for service to God. She often wrote for Presbyterian periodicals, as well as for the Presbyterian Board of Publication.

Together they had two children, who survived their parents after both passed away in the same year: a son, John M. Wright, of New York City, and a daughter, Jessie Elvira Wright Whitcomb, of Kansas City, Missouri. Jessie, born at Princeton, New Jersey, also became known as both a writer and a lawyer. She was a member of the Presbyterian church, like her parents. She and her husband, George Herbert Whitcomb, were classmates at Boston University Law School, and later became partners at George’s law firm. He also served as a judge and a professor of law. They had six children, several of whom were also noted in their fields.

B.B. Warfield had occasion to review some of the writings of both Julia and Jessie over the years, and gave them high commendation. All three Wrights highlighted here used their gifts for the service of others, and as authors left a legacy that still enriches readers over a century later. The Wrights are worth getting to know.

Click here to join the Dead Presbyterians Society

The Shepherd Prince

(Receive our blog posts in your email by clicking here. If the author links in this post are broken, please visit our Free PDF Library and click on the author’s page directly.)

It was in 1853 that the Lithuanian writer Abraham Mapu (1808-1867) published what is considered to be the first Hebrew language novel, Ahavat Ziyyon (The Love of Zion). It is an historical romance set in the days of the prophet Isaiah. Although Mapu struggled to make ends meet as an author, this publication was a landmark event and would inspire many who worked to establish the nation state of Israel.

There were English translations of this novel in 1887 under title Amnon, Prince and Peasant, tr. by F. Jaffe; in 1902 as In the Days of Isaiah, tr. by Benjamin Alexander Moses Schapiro; and as The Shepherd Prince in 1922 and 1930, also by Schapiro, a Jewish-Christian missionary to the Jewish people. The 1922 translation was published with an introduction by the great Princeton linguistic scholar, Robert Dick Wilson.

Wilson’s praise of the story and the translation by Schapiro is remarkable given his expertise as a Christian Orientalist.

THE perusal of “The Shepherd-Prince,” translated from the work of the famous Jewish writer of fiction, Abraham Mapu, by Mr. B.A.M. Schapiro, will show how possible it is for the spirit and “atmosphere” of a people, as well as the environment and setting of ages long past, to be brought out so vividly as to make them real to the consciousness of readers of today. To achieve this is a distinction, the height of literary art.

This work is to be warmly commended to Christian readers because it presents in graphic form the ideas of a modern Israelite with regard to the life and ideals, the emotions and aspirations, of the Ancient Chosen People.

The period of this intensely interesting love story is that of the time of Isaiah, the greatest in the long list of prophets from Moses to Christ. And the incidents of the love-idyl and love-tragedy throughout its course, which, as in all human experience, did not run smooth, but was ultimately triumphant, are admirably developed and in language so felicitous that one feels almost as if it were from the Bible-fount itself.

Love—the greatest thing in the world—found expression in ancient times just as it does today; although the setting differed, the essentials are the same, and the reader of modern fictional literature will find something refreshing in the pure and ardent affection of the hero and heroine, in their tribulations and joys. We believe that this book will be uplifting and that it will have a healthful influence on readers of the present time; for, as has been well said, “There is no time in life when books do not influence a man,” and the potency and sway of a good book are incalculable.

The love story—the leading motive of the book—illustrates the theme of the Song of Songs: that love is stronger than death. It is interesting to observe that love at first sight was, in the estimation of Mapu, as common a thing as it is in our own times, and that the course of love ran no more smoothly then than now. The manner in which the passion was manifested, especially of the heroine, may shock the sensibilities of some of the readers, because of the departure from certain conventionalities to which they are accustomed; but it is well to learn how other people express their affection and how a great Hebrew scholar imagines the passion and the practice of love among the Israelites 2,700 years ago.

Mr. Schapiro has put the reading public unfamiliar with Hebrew language and literature under a deep debt of gratitude for the excellent manner in which he has rendered into English this masterpiece of Abraham Mapu, whose fame is known to the uttermost ends of the earth as the “Father of Jewish Fiction.”

The translator is an acknowledged master of Hebrew, the Rabbinical exegesis of the Old Testament, and the Talmudical interpretation of the same. He has written much and well, being the author of many useful and learned pamphlets. He is therefore eminently well qualified to translate for readers of English the wonderfully poetic and figurative language of the original, which abounds in prose-poetry and song of the highest character. Indeed, the translation is so free from the usual ear-marks of translated works that, if there were not two names on the title-page, it might well be taken for an original work in English.
…
Within the limits of a Foreword it is impossible adequately to do justice to the scholarship and intrinsic worth of such a work as this; but, without flattery, it can safely be asserted that Mr. Schapiro has presented in a singularly fascinating way in its English dress, the greatest novel that has ever been produced in the Hebrew language. To say more would be like painting the lily or refining pure gold.

The Shepherd Prince is now available to read at Log College Press at R.D. Wilson’s page. If you are in search of a classic historical novel, this is a great one to add to your reading list.

Click here to join the Dead Presbyterians Society.

Some Pastors' Wives who were Prolific Writers

(Receive our blog posts in your email by clicking here. If the author links in this post are broken, please visit our Free PDF Library and click on the author’s page directly.)

The Child’s Story Bible [by Catherine Vos] was such a success that it sold more copies than all Geerhardus’s books combined. — Danny E. Olinger, Geerhardus Vos: Reformed Biblical Theologian, Confessional Presbyterian, p. 273

When we think of the most prolific or best-selling writers on Log College Press, names like B.B. Warfield, Archibald Alexander and Samuel Miller may come to mind. But some of the most prolific writers were often pastors’ wives, and, in some cases, as writers, out-sold their husbands. It is worth taking notes of some of their names and stories.

• Isabella Macdonald Alden — The wife of Rev. Gustavus Rosenberg Alden, Mrs. Alden was the author of over 200 books, most written under the pen name “Pansy” (a childhood nickname), and contributed as a journalist and editor as well. Her literary fame was world-wide and she received much fan mail, responding to each letter individually. Rev. Francis E. Clark once said, “Probably no writer of stories for young people has been so popular or had so wide an audience as Mrs. G. R. Alden, whose pen-name, ‘Pansy,’ is known wherever English books are read.”

• Charlotte Forten Grimké — Both before and after her 1878 marriage to Rev. Francis James Grimké, Charlotte was a poet, diarist and author of articles and essays. Her contribution to African-American literature is still greatly appreciated today.

• Elizabeth Payson Prentiss — Mrs. Prentiss, author of Stepping Heavenward, was the wife of Rev. George Lewis Prentiss, author of her biography. Elizabeth wrote dozens of books, as well as poetry and hymns. Stepping Heavenward sold over 200,000 copies in the 19th century, and since a 1992 reprint was issued, at least another 100,000 copies have been sold.

• Harriet Beecher Stowe — The wife of Rev. Calvin Ellis Stowe, Harriet is best known as the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. But she also wrote around 30 novels, plus articles and letters. She was a celebrity to many, infamous to others, but her writings were an important factor in the momentous events of 1861. Uncle Tom’s Cabin sold over 2 million copies worldwide by 1857 (5 years after its publication) and to date it has been translated into 70 languages.

• Mary Virginia Hawes Terhune — Mrs. Terhune, wife of Rev. Edward Payson Terhune, was known by her pen name, Marion Harland. She was the author of many novels, short stories, cookbooks, books on etiquette and more. She gave birth to six children, three of whom survived into adulthood - all three became successful writers as well. Her autobiography contains many fascinating insights into the Presbyterian circles in which she participated in Virginia, such as her remarks on the anti-slavery convictions of Mrs. Anne Rice, wife of Rev. John Holt Rice.

Other prolific female Presbyterian writers, married (whose spouses were not ministers) or unmarried, include:

• Pearl Sydenstricker Buck — Mrs. Buck, daughter of a missionary, Rev. Absalom Sydenstricker, and the wife of agricultural missionary John Lossing Buck (until they divorced) and Richard J. Walsh, is well-known for her liberal convictions and for her role in the upheaval that led to Rev. J. Gresham Machen’s departure from the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. Her 1931 novel The Good Earth won her a Pulitzer Prize, and in 1938 she won the Nobel Prize for Literature in recognition of her writings on China.

• Martha Farquaharson Finley — The author of the Elsie Dinsmore series and many more novels, Ms. Finley was a descendant of Samuel Finley and of Scottish Covenanters. Of the Elsie Dinsmore series, it has been said that it was “‘The most popular and longest running girl’s series of the 19th century,’ with the first volume selling nearly 300,000 copies in its first decade, going on to ‘sell more than 5 million copies in the 20th century.’”

• Grace Livingston Hill — Niece of Isabella M. Alden, and daughter of Rev. Charles Montgomery Livingston and Mrs. Marcia B. Macdonald Livingston, she was a popular writer of over 100 books on her own, but also compiled the Pansies for Thoughts of her aunt, and they collaborated on other works as well.

• Julia Lake Skinner Kellersberger — The wife of medical missionary Eugene Roland Kellersberger, both served the Presbyterian mission to the Belgian Congo. Mrs. Kellersberger wrote many books based on her experience, including a noted biography of Althea Maria Brown Edmiston.

• Margaret Junkin Preston — Known as the “Poet Laureate of the Confederacy,” Mrs. Preston was the wife of Major John Thomas Lewis Preston, a professor of Latin at the Virginia Military Institute; the daughter of Rev. George Junkin; and the brother-in-law of Stonewall Jackson. Her literary productions were many, and she was a beloved poet of the South.

• Julia McNair Wright — A very popular writer of books for children, including historical novels and introductions to science, and more, Mrs. Wright (wife of mathematician William James Wright), was a remarkable author, whose works were translated into many languages. Her The Complete Home: An Encyclopedia of Domestic Life and Affairs, Embracing all the Interests of the Household sold over 100,000 copies.

These brief notices show that there are a number of popular women Presbyterian writers from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Their bibliographies are lengthy, their legacies in some cases enduring to the present day, and their impact has been culturally significant. The work of adding all of their published writings is ongoing and in some cases far from complete at the present. We hope to make much more progress with each of these writers. The corpus of their literary productions is a real treasure.

Click here to browse our Bookstore!

How They Kept the Faith: A Huguenot Tale by Annie R. Stillman

(Receive our blog posts in your email by clicking here. If the author links in this post are broken, please visit our Free PDF Library and click on the author’s page directly.)

A descendant of French Huguenots herself, Annie Raymond Stillman (1855-1922), niece of Charles A. Stillman (see below), and parishioner of Thomas Smyth (also see below), was the author of a noted work of historical fiction titled How They Kept the Faith: A Tale of the Huguenots of Languedoc (1889, 1899), a book which was republished by Inheritance Publications in the 1990s as part of their Huguenot Inheritance Series.

Biographical sketches of Miss Annie (she never married, and wrote under the pseudonym “Grace Raymond”) appear in Mary D. Irvine and Alice L. Eastwood, Pioneer Women of the Presbyterian Church, United States (1923) and Margaret A. Gist, Presbyterian Women of South Carolina (1929). The latter work is not yet available at Log College Press, but we can quote a portion concerning Miss Annie.

ANNIE RAYMOND STILLMAN OR “GRACE RAYMOND”

Any history of the outstanding women of Charleston Presbyterial is incomplete without some mention, however brief, of the author of “How They Kept the Faith.” The daughter of Alfred Raymond Stillman and Amelia H. Badeau, Anne Raymond Stillman was born on January 25, 1855, in Charleston and in the congregation of the Second Presbyterian Church, of which her father was an elder. During the latter part of the Confederate War the family refugeed in Summerville, but Miss Stillman received her education at the Memminger Normal School of Charleston, from which she was graduated in 1870.

Miss Stillman had begun to write before that time, but her first published work was a memorial poem to her pastor, Dr. Thomas Smyth, in 1873. After that many of her poems and children’s stories were written for the “Southern Presbyterian", always under the name “Grace Raymond”, while she wrote the Charleston “News and Courier” a story of the Confederate War called “Palm and Pine.” Her mother, through whom came Miss Stillman’s Huguenot blood and spirit, suggested the book which brought her into prominence as an author. “How They Kept the Faith” is an important contribution to the history of the martyred Huguenots and of Christianity. Mrs. Stillman also instilled in her daughter an enthusiasm for Foreign Missions.

The gradual failure of Miss Stillman’s sight delayed the completion of her book and prevented all reading, but it never was allowed to cloud her cheerful spirit or her heavenly vision. No photograph of her is available, but none who knew her in youth may forget that exquisite regular profile, the blond hair brought down, madonna-wise, on each side of the delicate face, the eyes veiled against the light, and the intent interest in sermon or talk.

Miss Stillman later resided in Tuscaloosa, near the institute founded by her distinguished uncle, Dr. Charles Stillman, but as with all good Charlestonians, her heart lived in Charleston and Charleston was the better for it. She lies with her people in the old burying-ground in the shadow of Second Church.

If you are seeking edifying and inspirational historical fiction to read, which begins with a poetic tribute to the author’s mother and the heroic Christians from whom she was descended, the story of two Huguenot families in 17th century France, is a good choice for readers young and old and can be read online here.

Click here to browse our Bookstore!

Elsie Dinsmore and More

(Receive our blog posts in your email by clicking here. If the author links in this post are broken, please visit our Free PDF Library and click on the author’s page directly.)

Best-known as the author of the Elsie Dinsmore series for young readers, Martha Farquharson Finley (1828-1909) was raised as a Presbyterian, and also wrote over 50 volumes for the Presbyterian Board of Publication and the Presbyterian Publishing Committee. She was related to both Samuel Finley, President of Princeton, and the Scottish Covenanter John Brown of Priesthill. Religious themes dominated her writing, and the amount of literature she produced — mostly written for children, but not always so — was prodigious. We are still adding her works to Log College Press, but we wanted to alert our readers to what’s available here:

• All 28 volumes of the Elsie Dinsmore series (spanning her life starting when she became a Christian as a young girl);

• All 7 volumes of the Mildred Keith series (Mildred was a second cousin of Elsie);

• Historical fiction about the Scottish Covenanters (Annandale, A Story of the Times of the Covenanters) and the Waldensians (Casella, or, The Children of the Valleys); and

• Novels such as Wanted — A Pedigree, Signing the Contract, and The Thorn in the Nest.

Elsie Dinsmore is still popular today among young Christian readers. All of her stories are here to read, but there is much more. Take a look at her page, and explore her writings for the young and old(er). She combined engaging stories with Christian principles, and readers will be edified as well as entertained.

Click here to browse our Bookstore!

A Presbyterian Robinsonade: F.R. Goulding's "The Young Marooners"

(Receive our blog posts in your email by clicking here. If the author links in this post are broken, please visit our Free PDF Library and click on the author’s page directly.)

Stranded — marooned — on a desert island. If you have ever experienced this — and this writer has — or wondered about it — one cannot help but think of and compare your experience or daydreams to that of Robinson Crusoe, as told by the Presbyterian author Daniel Defoe. He originated, in fact, a genre of literature known as the Robinsonade — carried on by both non-Christian writers, and Christian authors such as Johann David Wyss (The Swiss Family Robinson); Robert Michael Ballantyne (The Island Queen and The Lonely Island); William Henry Giles Kingston (The Coral Island); and George Alfred Henty (For Name and Fame). Today we highlight an American Presbyterian author’s contribution to the genre.

Originally titled Robert and Harold: or, The Young Marooners on the Florida Coast (1852), this popular novel by Francis Robert Goulding (whose creative mind also developed an early version of the sewing machine) is often known as simply The Young Marooners. Not unlike Wyss’s Swiss Family Robinson, which came about through stories told by a pastor to his children, Goulding’s story also originated in tales told to young people. It tells the story — said to be partially based on factual events — of a family in the 1830s who set off from Charleston, South Carolina around the Florida peninsula to the Tampa Bay area. Where exactly they ended up, and how the children were separated from Dr. Gordon, and what adventures followed is the tale that we encourage you to read, or perhaps to read aloud to your children.

Worthy of special mention in this work is:

• The piety of the family - throughout their travels and adventures, the family’s commitment to Bible-reading, prayer and Sabbath observance is a golden thread that runs through the whole story;

• Although not a submarine like that which is found in another Robinsonade, Jules Verne’s The Mysterious Island, a nautilus is featured in Goulding’s tale, described by the author as a “Portuguese man-of-war”; and the fact that

• There is a sequel - after the success of Goulding’s adventure novel, which went through over ten editions in the United States and England, and was translated into several foreign languages, in the following decade Goulding published the backstory of Dr. Gordon’s search for the young children under the title of Marooner’s Island: or, Dr. Gordon in Search of His Children (1868). This and other adventure stories for young people can be found here.

Click here to browse our Bookstore!

New Presbyterian Women Writers Added to LCP

(If the author links in this post are broken, please visit our Free PDF Library and click on the author’s page directly.)

Two new female Presbyterian authors have recently been added to Log College Press.

The first is Susan Mary Brown Alexander (1828-1910). She was the daughter-in-law of Archibald Alexander - married to Henry Martyn Alexander (1822-1899). Among the works she wrote, at LCP we have:

• How to Study the Old Testament: In a Series of Questions - First Series: From Genesis to First Samuel (1873)

• Questions on the Acts of the Apostles, 1882-1883 (1883)

The second is Julia McNair Wright (1840-1903). She was the wife of Presbyterian minister and mathematician William Janes Wright. An extremely prolific author, she published dozens of books over the latter half of the 19th century, which were all extremely popular. These include both fiction and non-fiction, such as her volumes on astronomy, botany, and nature; a Ladies’ Home Cook Book; an encyclopedia of domestic life; a work on church history; a number of stories critical of Roman Catholicism; adventure stories, travelogues and historical fiction; several works relating to the temperance movement; a translation of a novel from the original French; and a series (the True Story Library, published by the Presbyterian Board of Publication) of Reformation-era biographical sketches for younger readers on the lives of the Scottish Reformers George Wishart and John Knox; German Reformer Martin Luther; Bohemian Reformer John Huss; French Huguenot Reformers John Calvin, Queen Margaret of Valois, Duchess Renée of Ferrara, and Admiral Gaspard de Cologny; English Reformer William Tyndale; and English Puritan Richard Baxter. Always active, always writing, the words found on the cover of one particular volume reflect her ethos: “For day by day we should be instant in doing God’s errands as we move across the world.”

In her biographical sketch of Martin Luther, she wrote these words:

The world and the Church need a good shaking just now to wake them up to the work of the Lord, and where is the Luther strong in Jesus to do it? He may be some boy reading this book. God knows.

Take time to peruse these newly-added authors and their writings now available at LCP. You and your family will be richly rewarded.