JI'LORIDA STATE UIIIVERntI

BhST SLLLING RELIGIOUS fICTIOR. 1900-1953

By GERTRUDE PHILLIpS WILD.Eft

A Paper Subm1tted to the Graduate Council at florida state University 10 partial 1I1l.tllllllent ot the requirlllllentll tor the degree ot v.a.ter ot Art••

Mloor pro~e ••or

, \- I f.4,. c. ' Yt.. ~ .L ~ Repre.entat1ve ot Graduate Council /1 I, I ~ May. 1956 I I)/< 'I Dean of the Graduate School TABLE OF CON'rBN'J:S Page INTROroCTIOIi • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 1 RELIGIOU& FICTION ON BEST SELLER LIs m, 1900-1953 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 6 mE BlBLI CAL lIO VEL • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 1.2 mE INSPIRATIONAL NOVEL • • • • • • • • • • • 19 THE CLEilI CAL NOVEL • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 26 SUMWlY • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 32 API'DIDIX • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 37 BlBLIOGIIAI'!iY • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • .fo8

11 IIITRooocnOll

It there ls need in llbrary llterature tor tuller expodt10n ot the "'D¥ values thet novels hold tor the reeding publlc there i. even greater need aaons librarlans tor a broader bocksround ot personal taailiarity wlth tlctlon, a deepened relponsivena.s to the qualitles and 1ntluence. ot the novelist'_ art. The apologetic a ttltude so commonl7 main­ tained toward the existence end reading ot novel. in publlc libraries is one ot the v.stll1a1 romaine ot traditional lIor.U.... In the present day, ot varlety and ..sterr in technique ot literary ax­ pression and broadening appreCiation ot l1tereture, the onl7 tict10n coll.ctlon thet demands apolol7 1_ on. in which trivial, inene, inter10r, and vulgar book. predominate. Througb the halt-century now olo.ing world revolut10n increa_e. in ..o.entua, and the portent., tragedie., contusions, end tear. thet ahedow the world are ranected in the creative art ot fiction as 1 t penetrate. with 1ns ight end power into man's external and internal violence and dis­ integration. This tiction 1. properl1 pert ot the llbrary's apparatus or publlc enlightenment, end libraries Ihould approve 1 t. values, as the;y should be proud ot the manitold 1ntluencas tor intellisence and imagination and S1JIIp!I th1 and simpl. ple.sure-­ surel1 a sreat I1tt--that thay are radiating through tiction.l Llbrariana have been slaw at tim.s, perhaps, to bec"",e eurtlcientl1 well aWare ot "the variety and .sterT in technique" represented in tiction end _utflcientl1 cognl&ant ot 'broaden Ins ot litereture in fictional torm.· Too otten perhaps, due to the pre.sure ot dutles, they have reUed on reviews and .elected Usts tor vicarious acquaintance with

E. Seleotion~elen (2nd ed.,lIa;~~t,;., Service". no. 2; lew York: pp. 1507-08. 1 2 tile product in Ueu of a first hand uulnation of it. Such exaalnation would in no wise lessen in importence the re­ view. and lists. Because of tile multi tude of duties, 8.lI¥ selection aid has e Telue when used correctly. In tact, tIle.e lists can be made the basis for such personal examina­ tion of various types of books with whioh til. librarian neede greater familiarity. In recent years tbe writer has noted from time to time the recurrence on best ••Uer 11.t. of t1 tIes thet could be caUed, because of tile setting, characterization, and problems, religious fiction. The purpose of this peper i. to analyze tile titles of religious fiction for tile period 1900- 1953 witil view to determining how IIl!Ul7 ouch novels achieved best seller status; of escerta1n1ng what typas have been widely read; end with view of detem:ln1ng what in tile minds of autllors end reviewers we. tile need served and tile reason for their popularity. No attemp.t will be made to show that th.s. books ought to be read, that thay are outstanding literature, or tbet they will necessarily live--the aim i. to show the t tile religious novel is a force the t cannot be 19nored in the study of fiction and current trends in writing. Best seller 11sts were chosen as they tell what books were most popUlar in their respective years. Though they do not tell how many people read the books, tIley are selective as they do not include book club Belect10ns or II books anilabl" on librarr lIhelve.; but booa which ware boU&bt to .. thei .. own 8&ke. -Best ••11 ... - is a tal'll uaed SOli_hat 1001e17 br the Amerlcan publlc todar. Tet tew people reallze It. meaning or l1ll1tatlonl. It u.ual17 reterl to a cOllpa .... tive rating on a llst such a8 the b •• t selling tiction tor th. week. month.

0 .. 78"" compiled br lOme _&aline. MaIl1 pe.. iodical. publish be.t s.lle.. lists. 1'h•• e li.ts c.. pare the .alel at nrious booa troll book stores end othe.. outlet•• excluding book clubs. 1'he .a1es tlgure. are checud and the books re­ oeiving the largest DUmber at sales ... celve ranks according to their sales. A list 10 then dra'>n up listing the book. b)" order ot sal•• records tr... the greatelt down--these records

&1'e then published as the best sellers ot the stated period. For the purpose at this paper the )"earlT Usts which have been oOllpiled br Pybliahers' Weekl,z2 '11111 be used as the B.st Sell.r Ll.t to which wa will reteI'. Alice P. Hackett has brought the.e ),""1'17 list. together in her books. Fiftx Xeare ot Be.t 8,11'£$. 1896_19,53 and SovIQ Xttrt ot Best Sellerp, lP~-1951.' To bring the informatlon up to date. the ,earlT Best Selle.. List in Publi.he.... Weekly

2Pybl1.11ers· W!It!kly. 1'he Amerioan Book Trade Journal (Sew York: R. R. Bowker Co.). 3A11ce Pame bcutt. Ftttl Y!I!lrs ot Best Sellers, 1895-l9~ (Jlew York: R. R. Bow er CO •• 1945). 'Allce Payee Heckett, van Years ot e.t 5 lers. tHtt?lIll SUpplement to tt ars or .t 3e .... 895- 9 New York, R. R. Bowker Co., 9 • • ror 1952 and 1953 have been used to supplement Mi88 Hackett's books. The Best Seller Lists mirror the public'S interest. These are lists not ot what people could or should reed, but of the books that they haTe bought to reed. A persOll is usually more careful in the .eleation or books he buy. than in those he borrows rrom libraries or rriend.. Books are brougnt to the public attention 1n Ivery way possible. However, the books on the best seller lists have not been chosen tor the reader by book club., but they have been bought by him or his own rNe will. This paper is not an attempt to show that these books which have appeared on the best Beller list. are outstanding as literary masterpieces, but tuat they .... et the needs of the averege reader and althougn they have not here-to-fore been classed as a type or novel, they mignt be recognized as such. Only best sellers w1th a decided re­ l1gious theme or philosophy are considered a. religious novels. From their contents religious fiction (novels) rall into three groups: (1) novel. with settings and/or char­ acters rrom e1 ther the Old or New Testament, " type or historical novel, the Biblical; (2) novels show1ng principles of Chrllt1an1t, in action, the InspIrational; and (3) novels dealing with ~~e lives of minister. or priests, the Clerical. This paper, therefore, i. an analysis of religious 5 fiction on the best seller lists, 1900-1953, with consideration of both the quantity and ~e quality of the novels and with Bome attention to the timeliness ot opinion expressed ror the reacUng audience to "hQm it was directed. Next, an e.xam1l1a tion will be made of th.. bookS by type. l'hen, a summary ot the rindings will be presented. In an appendix will appear a ohronological listing of the titles with notation to indicate the numerical rankIng in their popu1arit1 as compared with the other best sellers on that particular list, Bnd an alphabet1cal b1bl1ographical 11.ting of the thirty t1tle. with annotations. RELIGIOUS FIOTIoli Oll llESX BELLER LISXS, 1900-1953

During the period 1900-1953 there were thirty titles on the lUlIlU/il beet seller 11sts which might be termed religious r1ction. 7W81ve t1tles were listed more then onoe making a total or forty-rive listings tor the period oovered. Several authors, notably Sho1em A.eh, Lloyd C. Douglaa and Harold Bell Wright, had more than one t1tle 11sted. The total number or authors representeO was rUteen. Titles or this nature bad been quite popular in the closing years ot tba 1800's, but the turn or the century saw a slackening or re11gious interest es suoh and a changing attitude toward the churches. Critics charged the church with insensitiveness te social abuses. The religiOUS novels or the rirst pert or the twentieth centur,y dealt with problems or the individual and the need ror untried religion with 80cial oonsoiousness. me Doctor (on the best seller list in 1907), Xheir Yesterday. (1912), Ib& Inslde or the CUp (1913-1914), The woman Thou gavest Me (1913), end The Eyes or the World (1914) demonstrate the attitude or the churoh toward divorce, nationalism and social and economic problems as themes ot novels or this 6 7 period. The '1rst World War was slow to 1n!luence the re­ l1gious novel in the United States, but with the entrance ot the United States into the war, the problem. ot men became a popular theme. ~en a Men's a M!!!l (1916), ~ Major (1918), The Skz P,lot in No Man's Land (1919), The He-creat10n of Br!an Kent (1919-1920), and Simon Called Peter (1922) retlect thiS successful effort to regain selt­ respect in a home tront 01' ""1' setting. The prosperitr that tollowed World . er I 18 not1ce­ able for 1ts lock of rel1g10us fiction. The only nonl to reflect rel1gion in this period was Elmer Ge.ntry (1927) with its b1tter attack on the churoh and its ministers. Here it i8 noticeable that relig10n was not the popular sub3eot that it had been in the preoeding quarter centurr. The depression found the public unsure ot itselt and seeking tor guidance. Books dealing with re11gion as such did not appear in quant1ties, but Lloyd C. Douglos with Magnificent Obsession (1932-1933), Jl'prgive U. Our

Trespasses (1933) , Green Light (1935), ~!I BAlJ!lers (1936) end Disputed Pa5seS£ (1939) did give insp1rat1on through t1ct10nalized accounts ot practical Chl'ist1an1ty. 1939 and the unrest in EUrope produoed many title. and many types ot relig10us fiction, an output which con­ tinues to the present. The )!azarene (193~-l940). The K,n of the Kingdom (1941-l942), ;he Song of Bernadette (1942- e

1~43), The Robe (1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1953), 8lld l'!l!t Apoet1e (1943-1944) all presented a religious I1terature w1th settIngs fkm111ar to most readers. The MIracle of the Bella (1946-1947), The Big Fisherman (1948-1949), l'!l!t Ushep's Mantle (1948), Im.!Z (1949), The C&rd1nel (1950- 1951) showed thet the 1nterest 1n relig10n did not .. nd w1th the war. Mose; (1951), Ihe Foundl1ng (1951), l'lI!. Sllver Chalice (1952-1953), 8lld !he Gown ot Glory (1952) haTe all had overtones ot spir1 tual percept10n whlch demonstrated thet relig10us fict10n has cont1nued to be popular. Frca 1939 to 1953 e.ch yearly list contained at least one title whiCh could be cla.sed a. religious f1ction. This renewed 1ntnast 1n thl ng. spiritual in popular read1n& is cons1stent with other evidences of religJ.oua interest. Statistics of ...... bership in churchas and sJllllgogues II1tI7 be mi.1.... d1n&. There ..re men of f81th who do not go to place. ot worship. But f1gure. give .. clue to the growth of religion in this oountl'7. A t the baginning of the centUr)' at least 30 per­ cent of the population were members of religious 1n­ st1tutions. B;y 1900 the f1gure W119 about 40 percent. In :n! Nineteen Flfties it rose to well over 60 par­ cent. Rel1gious tiction has no pattern. It varies greatly in liter.. 1'7 merit. The only two authors on the religIous fiction best seller lists to receive an)" reCOgnition tor literary aCh1evement were S1enkiewicz, for work published in the nineteenth century, and Lewi.. 7ha.8 two received

lJonah B. Wise, 'Sarver ot a Halt Century ot Re- 11s1on,· The New York Times Magazine, December 12, 1954, p. 17. 9 Robel prizes for literature, 8ienkiavics in 1905 aDd Levi. in 1930, not for th" themes of their nowl., but tor their excellence in vri ting. On the other hand, the most popular and prol1fic author in the r.ligious field 18 LlCl0 C. Dougls. vI th seTen books on the li.t aDd the mos tout­ o_'ng1, popular religious DOT.l, IDe Robe, is not known tor the qualIty of hi. book.. Be, accorOing to Luocock "coulO not be oalleO e chief apostle of goO or a ohlef noTeli.t", althouall hi. lack of craftllan.hip is atoned tor in Oegree b, his Oreal gift for narratlw anO conversatlon.oe Almost ner, ,ear hal seen on. or more rel1g10us novel on the best seller list. 7be exception is tor the OecaOe 1922-1932, vbe the onlT one thet appeareO va. Elmer Gantn--a carIcature ot a 1l1n1.ter. Sine. the first worlO lo'ar lett America protounOl, O1s1l1usloned, It is not surprising that tew 1n.piratlonal or relIgIous books reacheO the best seller li.ta. . But populer reading furnishes subject attar tor laportent tascInating atuOies. EspeciallT 1. the thoughtful obserwr ot the vorking.. ot a democratic .ociet, concerned vi til the .s. lapact ot so mach reading me tter upon the public. OnlT the cTU1c and tile heeUe•• can O1aregarO popular 11terature. Bere the sociologist tinds material tor hi. inquirle. into the more., tile socIal historian •••• thll 11111- poato ot tile deTelopment ot peopl., and student. ot SOTel'Dlll8llt obseMe popular mOT_ents at work. As the bast seUers are palled in rniev in the enau1ng pege., reaOera .., DOte their reflection ot historicel incidents and tile deTelopment ot Am.rican soc letT ,

liaeltord E. Luccook, ~riC!lll Mlmr; Soclal, Ethical and ReligIous Aspect.~ American Literatur., 1930-1960 (Rev York: The MaCIIU 1 an Co., 1960), p. 270. 10 as weU as the reappearance 1n them ot such un11'y1ng elements as rellgion,~sensatlon, selt-help, good narrat1on. and so on.~ Tn. elements ot relIgion and need tor selt-help as mirrored in the religious novel retlect much ot the state ot mind and ot the social consciousness of the reading public ot the United states during the past holt century. AsIde trom being popular it appears that these novels, even those of dubious literary merit, may hove an 1ntr1nsl0 value of their own. It seems that the Chief value in religious fiot1on lies 1n the fact that it is read by so III8lIJ' people who do not read &n1 other religious literature at all. Or, It they do read it, they read It devotIonally mther than with 1111 eye to the story it tells. Tnere are III8lIJ' people who !mow more about Jesus and his friends 1n Galilee tram read1ng "Mary" or "The BIg Flsheman" than would know about the S8 .ame choma tel's from 1Ul7- other source, even though they may read the Bible wIth some regularity. 1'118 Bible was certainly written to be read as lIterature, but it Is otten read exclusively as fragments ot wisdom and are nevei quite put together in the understanding at the reader. Tne Fiction Catalog has listed sIxteen of the religious tlction novel. from the 1900 to 1953 best seller lists. Of these eight are double starred, five single starreCl and three are listed without preterential rat1ng. Most ot thase are recent publicatlons and it i5 perhaps doubtf'ul whether or not any ot them will be able to endure as

3Frsnk Luther Mott, Go1d~Multltuds'l The Story ot Best Sellers 1n the United st&: • (New York: Tne MeC­ millan Co., 1947), p. 5. ~ttar tram John Howard Banger, Pastor, Riverside Park MethodIst Church, Jacksonville, Florida, March 28, 1955. II Sienkiewicz's guo Vedis, which 1. st1ll listed in Fiotion Catalog some fifty-five years after it received a place on the 1697 best seller list. Although fiction can take many f01'll1ll it is the en­ deavor of the writer of this paper to show thet the re­ ligious novel, .s displayed from best seller lists, hes had a continuing interest and tor thet reason should not be overlooked by librarians and others dealing with books and book seleotion. '1'b.ese books of inspiration or emphesis on re11gion appear to fill a need today as the best seUers show. It is the writer's aim to consider the religious fiction that hes been popular in the past under three groupings and to ane.l.yae in soma degree their contents. 'IRE BIBLIOAL NOVEL

Perhaps the s~ple.t, most explicit detinition at the historical novel i. that it io a novel which dep1ct. actual periods, persons, or events of histo1'7 in such a manner that they can be readily identified. SUch depiction may be complete or partial, specific or generalized • • • • me historical novel offers a recreation of the past at once imaginative and realist1c, it ~bues famous figures of h1atory with immediate vit&Uty and emotional signU'lce.nce, and 1 t enable. present-day readers to realize condl tlons of l1ving aa they were imown to men and women of a VlIlliahad day.l 2bat American readers have sbown an interest in the historlcal novel ls manifest from tha lists which record the best sellers 1n thls aount1'7' Espeoially 1. thio true of the historical romance made popular by Slr

Walter Scott, who shoved how 1nterest1~ storle. at the pest could be. Mol'

rnrough l1tera1'7 allUSions, Sunday School, publ1c School tralning and other types of reading and education, mall,}' Amer1cans have gained some f'aII11l1arity with the

Blble, hence Bibl1cal scenes and t~ee are not fore1gn to th... It ls therefore espec1elly slgnU'lcant that

lfielen E. Haines, Living we th BookJ! (2nd ed., "Columb1a University StQd1es 1ii Ll rery Service", no. 21 New York. Columbia Universlty Press, 1950), p. 539. 12 13 novels retelling tlIe story ot Christian1ty and Bi bl1csl stories neve been popular at various times in best seller his tory. These novels are usuallJ' grouped with the his­ torical novels, bu.t traa their content It Is evldent tllet they are important froll a religious point ot view .. well. In tile nineteenth century several Biblical novels en30ye4 much popular1 ty • Noteworthy "",ong these were Ben Bur, The Prince ot the House ot David, and Quo Vadi;!. In the twentieth oentury, however, not until 1939 was a Biblical novel popUlar enough to gain a posltlon on

the yearly beat seller list. In the t year Shol"", AlIch' 8 AIle Na¥1'!!'!O was n1llllbel' nine on the list. Although BOlIIe novels reflecting rellgious interest were popUlar during the interim between the publ1catlon ot Quo Vadi\l in 1896 end 1939, Ilf) historlcal Biblical novel reached the yearly Usts in those intervening years. A.ch struck the popUlar note with four navels: The Nazarene (1939), The ARostle (1943), tl.v.u (19411), and Moses (1901). HIS are the m03t trUl;y Bib11cal in the .ense of the perlod which they repre­ sent and the characters portrayad. They coUld be considered as a sort ot tictlonal1ze4 biography in tllet they take a known cheractel' trom the BIble and weave a story around tllet charaoter. All of ASch's """els heve been translated trom the Yldd1sh and he serves as a l1nlt between JewiSh and Chrlstian minds in The Na!!U'Me, The Apostle and !!AU, 14 whiell torm a tr110g trOll the lIew Tes tament. lhe treatment Moh gives to the Ute ot Ohrist in The lIall!lreM gives a new approach to the Chrietian eto17 by the use ot modern Poland as a setting--a decided17 new telling ot the Christian sto17. The Christian Gospel is "good newl" 2. But people hungry tor good news are tor some reason not reaching out eagerly for the Gospel. The word has an antique flavour~ it. meanin8 has been torgotten. And the content. or the Gospel, as olldinarily presanted, do not sound 11lce news; they sound in-ele'l1lllt to the present houri they do not speak to man's oond1tion.3

Perhaps Asell he. learned to apeal< to men' 8 condi- tion and present the "good news- in a tom wh.\c h 11 acoeptable today. This will allo be true ot the other relig10us novell, but it i. especially noticeable in Biblical fiotion. The outstanding bast seUer of our time ralls into this group. TIle Robe, by Lloyd C. DoU8las, hea become, tram tlle poIiit of' v1ew of sales, Dna ot the greatest successes ot publ1shing hi.tory. Published in Octo­ ber 1942, 1 t stood a t one tlme at the head of the beat-seller Ust tor fiction for eleven monthe, and 18 still well up toward the top. It he•• old~ in less than two years, one million, tour hundred and tUty thousand copies, and the publ1shers estimate thet it he. been read by five tlmes that Il1Dber ot people • • •• In the first place, he [lloyd C. Douglas] say., 10U can always acore a sueeen b1 wr1ting a novel

~amans 10:15, "And how can men preaell unl88. they are Bent? As it 1s wr1tten, 'How beaut1tu1 are the teet at those who preach good news\" 3walter to the Present Vol. II Assembly 15 about .Telus, 1! you take care to avoid the contro­ "fIInies whlch have spl1t the later Christ1ans into aeets •••• But there 18 al80, perhapl, he adds, a specul r ..... on vhf a novel about .Tesus -should be widely read at this time. It il quite natural that people should tind 1 t a reliet to hear about seae­ body wo va. intere.ted in healing the blind and the cr1ppled rather than in bl1ndlnS and crlpplins people, in coatortins the persecuted rather than in outlawing large groups of human belng.. 111i. mus t certainly be true, and there are also speclal reasOWl w'l¥ Dr. Dougla., picture ot Jesus sl10uld partlcUlarly c OJllllalld IIttentlon. Dr. Douglas, "ho is a Congreptlonel 1I1n1Dter and Bon ot a oountry parson, has an asset which can only be desc"ibed as old-tim. Christlan teeling. He 15 • genuine IIBJl ot God of the type that u.oed to do hi. best in the Americen small-town pulpit and that the community rUt it could rely on. He is en anacbroni•• , but he re,resents 10IDethins that a good II8Jl}' Amerlcans IIIU5 t teel to be raa•• urins. And, besldes thiS, he has given to The nOit one virtue wllieh can IIlBkB a good bad "".. el, just &8 const1tute. a aine ~ua non tor every really excellent one: 11. hoot 1maitiie tli8 Wbole th1ng tor h1mIelt. •• Whan, theretore, one camperes wi til ~e tran!cJ y taked publishers' loode the publ1c are usually ted, one see. that Dr. Douglas' novel 1s • work ot • certa1n purity and that tile author de ••rYe. • c.rtain reapect. It 16 rather to the credit or the millions wo have been bulins or borro"in& 1l!e Robe that they should preter • long and tedious no.,.,1 abOut the 1nt1uences of the power of Je.us on the hOmaD Wbo carrled out tha crucitixlon to tha llv&ller and e.sler productions which have been lpec1ally flavored to please them. It demonstrates that the ordinary reader, even in our ghastly time, does long tor moral l1ght, thIIt he cannot live by bilS_ alone. But that seven and • half .i1110n Americans should not tind i, in the l .....t dbtaatetul to devour tive l1undred and t1tty rages ot Dr. Douglas' tlve-and-ten-cent-store writ1n& I someth1ng to slve pause to anyone who aay have supposed tllat the seneretlon ot Mencken had lUted American ·t... ~t •• 11ttl. above ~. level of Gene Stratton-Poter and Harold Bell wright. The Robe wes on the beat a.ller list for tile 1eal'll

•EdIilund W1laon, • 'You Can' t Do nul To Mel' Shrilled Ce1u·, lAAn1s. and COllllllercl .. ls I a l1terary Chronicle ot the F'ort 88 (llew York: flarrar, Straus, 1950), pp. 20~08. 16 1948, 1943, 1944, 1945, and 1953. At present it 1s con­ sidered among the best seUers ot all time. In the histo17 of best sellers no other book ot tlction has ever held such an extended popularity. PerbBps it 1s not correot to class1fY The Robe a8 purel.1 a B1blical novel dealing with earl.1 Christianity. In it one 1s led through the lands ot the New Testament event. and even though the setting 1s after the Cruc1fU:ion the reader gains a familiar! ty wi til tha disc1ples end earl.1 Christians. ±he Robe alSO must take 1t. place 1n Roman h1sto17 as giving a good picture or the Empire end life ot those days as well. Dau;;las again tried to capture publio ecclaim in :!'he 'B1g Fishermen, but he was not sueeess:f'ul. in writing another Robe. However, the Fisherman ""'. number one tor 1948 and nmber two tor 1949. "Published in mid-November . of 1948, Lloyd C. Douglas' second Biblical novel, 'The BIg F1sherman,· outdistanced all the ether tiction titles of that year. ,5 mis was e feat in itself. "The Fisherman" i8 Simon Peter and the stOl")' follows

the y~ars of Jesus' llin1at17 eS g1 ven in the Bible. AS 18 usual in this type novel love interest is not omitted and ID8D7 ot the people known form the Biblical acccunt are present. Among these ere the disciples, Joseph of Ar1matbea, Herod Antipas and others, ,,11 playing tbe1r parts in the sto17.

6Al1ce Payne H"'0l<:!'tt~ 1945-1961 (Ne>l York; H. R. Bo;ik8i 17 CaDIlcUan-oorn Thomas B. Coatain had a back&round or historical novels on tne best seller list behind him berore he too undertook 11 Biblical novel. Perhaps he had read Llo}'d C. Douglas' cOJllllant on tne popularity or tha re- 11glous novel and had accepted hl. understanding at tha historlcal epproach in writing ;he Sllver Chellce. It 10 tne latest on our list, galnlng rlrst place in 1952 and second in 1953 where lt had to Compete with The Robe. again popular because of tne recent ""'Tie. In Ib! Silver Chalice, Costaln weaves a tale around tile cup of tne last supper ..1 tn hi. usual skill and intro­ duce. tne early Chri.t1sns, diSclples and fictlonal cIlar­ acters in a fast moving story Which hald tile interest ot tha American public B8 1. witnessed in its po.ition on tile best .eller list. for t...o years (1952-1953). lIot a Biblice1 no ....1. but certaln]}, a novel deal1D& .. lt1l sacred histo17 ls Wertel's BoM or llernadette. He took actual events and wove thea into a novel talling the hi.to17 of tne lidrac1e of Lourdes. • Again tha appeal or religiOUS t1ction was ev1den~ed by tne great aale at ':Jhe Song of Bernadette,' "hiah reached almost half a mlllion capies in 1942. With 1ta ~pr1nt edit1on. timed for tha rel.... e at a notable moTie, lt had sold over 900.000 by U44.·6 wertel write. Bernadette's stor}, reverently a. a

6Allce Peyne Hackett. ruty ~rs or Best sellers (liew York: R. R. Bowker, 19457p. ~ 1.8 tult1Ument or a war tlJRe "rOw and represents Itore part1.an t1'8etaent than 1. eY1danced I.n the strictly B1bl1oal nowl by hi. treatment or the Yl.ion deolared by the Cathollc church as a true evocatlon or the Vlr&1n. One value or these Bl bl1cal novels lUI ls true of all historical DOvsls, aoco1'dl.n1 to Halen E. Hainas, 10 that

the work of even minor preoant-~y writers, ccnstantly improY1nl hlltorlcal authority and I.n nex1b1l1ty or technique, baa freShness and energy in brl.n&1ng to l1&t>t obscure _terials and Uphaslllinl aspect. or the past that takB on speolal ligniricance ror our own time.. What thl. fiot1on cen do I.n stransthaninl and Yltal1zlng 1ndlYldual baoKS1'Cund knowledge of hlsto17 ls not sufflo1ently 1'8all,..d.'

'Haineo, QP. olt., p. 545. 1m! INSPIRATIONAL NOVEL

1I0t only 11 there evidence at popular appeal to be found in book. baTing as their ••ttinp and cbaracteriu.­ tlona the place. and persona familiar troa the SCriptures, but in others baT1ng eJI thelr thaIIIea princ1ple. ot eppUed Chrlst1an1 t)' are there a1lll1lar chances at tindin, a wid. reading awUenc•• People who .e.k counsel, incentlve, or encourace­ ....nt are apt nowadays to turn instinct!vely to boollll. In .alIT personal s1 tuatlon8 the publ1c 11 brary ls the modern sllbstl tut. tor the rellg10us help sought in an ear11er age. The part thet boob can pla)' in 1ndiv1dual 11te ls reveal.d over end over a",in to evs17 11brarian whoae vorl< brings 8D)' personal rela­ t10nsbip w1th readers. ihere should be a d.eper realization ot tll1a aDd a higher confidence in the inspiring 1ntluences that, 1n ell l1bra17 "erv1ce, now ContinU0118ly through boou, awu8Ilins and developing unprtdlctable respon8e. in acceptant or eJlpll'ing 111 ruls. The nCO' ela which will be consldered utodel' the head­ ing at the insp1rational are perhaps the largest group in the 1'811510118 t1eld. iha)' otter not the retall1ng at the Chr1stian story, but examples ot 11ves Uved according to Chr1atian principle.. In the early de)," at the best .eller liats, contemplation at modarn Chri"Uanit)' or Uving the Chr1atian Ute "". a c ...on theme in fiction.

19 Xhe reUgious appeal 10 strong rrora one end of the l1st to the other. Of the first twent;y best sellers, th1rteen "ere def1n1 tely books of rel1gious teaching, and thet el.... ent was strong in four others. Th1s was not remarlmble in v1ew of the prominence of rel1g10n in the lite of early Co10n1a1 years I but it is more str1lrlng to flnd that of the 279 best sellers up to 1915, e1ghty-seven (or almost ~e­ th1rd) contained a strong reUgious element. During the latter part of the nineteenth oenturr a chenge in the att1tude tovard the church had taken plece which influenced the fIct10n end carried over to the eerly part of the twent1eth centur)'. M1ss1ona.l')' work emong the poor of the great c1 ties was attracting IlUch attention in the ninetles. Robert ElsmQre, with 1ts challenge to orthodox churches end its emph&81. on tile Chr1st1an in the SlU11lS, was st1ll debated. Wllliam and Catherine BoOth vera beating the drums of the Salvation ~, and theIr "slum brigades· vere active. Jane Addams' Hull-House in ChIcago was • widelr discussed, and social settlements bad been es­ tablished in other citles. Wil11... T. stead'. 11: Christ came ~ Chj.caSD bad created a sensation Iii 1894, thoUgh ts opinIons "are challenged the next year in Edward Everett Hale's It ~sus CA!!!8 to Boston. In the S&me year whioh saw the pu lcatlon ot In Hls ~eps, Hall Caine's Abe Cbr1st1ap. ,,1th It. thesis of e Inadequacy of the churoh, was making a resounding success on 1ts f1rst pub11cat10n.3 Xhe fIrst inspiratIonal novel on the best seller list for the twent1eth century 18 Ralph Connor's tn. Doctor. AI! i. true of most of the books to be found in thls group, lhe Doctor vas written by a minister ul1ng novel form to extend hi. teaching beyond the pulp1t. strong re11glous b1as 1s reflected in 8l.1 of Ralph Connor's 1Il'1tings.

2Frank Luther Mott, _ . ...,;;;;~, Btol')' of Best Sellers in the United . Macm11lan Co., 1947), p. 286. ~ott. op. cit., p. 195. 21. Declded4' a rel1gious ti.etion wrlter, oth.,r of Connor's best • .,llel'S tall into the elergical group--IDe Major and n.. DoQtor are the onlJr two which are purely insplra­ tional in character. Connor, the Reverend Charles William Gordon, never gave up his ministry but ltill managed to

produce IIlIUl¥ popular bookS. IDe Doctor; a Tale of the

Rockies, receive~ ninth plaoe on the 1907 list and %he Major seventh on the 1918. n.e combination of exeit1ng adVenture and moral purity won for them thousand. of readers who had never before indulged in novell--1ndeed, IIlIUl¥ of them staunchly affirmai they ~ere not fictlon, for a mini.ter • eoul.n.e. tell Hes.· In all his novels (in many of which" minister is the hero), strict morality. temperance, purlty, and plety are stressad; and yet he was born story teller, and the scenery and Ufe of the Canadian Rockies were i n his very blood. Hls novel. are not literature, but they are good reading if one can discount their smugness, and ttlou@)l. they were written for adults they make excellent juveniles stll1.4 Another minister whose 1nsp1rational novels were best sellers 1n the early twentieth century was Hall C.,ine. He had had best sellers in the preceding century, %he Christ­ !!a (1897) and n.e MaDman (l895). Caine's The Woman n.ou Oavest Me is a critiCism of the attitude of the church towrd divorce. The Isle of Man in this novel servad onlJr as the g1rlhood home for the hero1nel whereas in Caine's other books it was the setting tor the entire stories. Caine used his novels as extensions of BibUcal storles in

J. Kun!tz and Howard Ha;rc,.. l'·t, a Biographical Dictionary at H. w. Wilson, l~42), p. 653. .od."", l1fe. with deeply reUgiou. f ..Ung. !be last author in the ..rly twentieth century in­

.pirational group vas Harold »el1 ~rillht. who too had achined avid. '-4inI audience prlor to 1900. Of dubious lita1'&1"7 ....it. Probably AIlerica i. bettar for having read e lot of Harold Bell "rlght. Hi. aturf i8 vhole.o.... oeoeaionally somewhat st1aulating in ide&l. and T81"7 otten pictur.aqual and mUUane found it entar­ tain!ng • • • • Hia sueo...... baaed upon a fortunate ccab1nation. the tiaelineaa of hia sincere cOIIMnt upon aooial probl... which vere alread¥ exoiting vidia interest. Ilis native al

In \Ohen a "'an'a a M.n (1916) ~. s.".,on tool< tile fol'll of the .dftllteges a man can gain rrca Ufe in the great South­ Yest. while !be Recreation of pr1ta Kent (1919) dealt with the probl... of aelf regenera t10n. lot until 1932 11 another book of inopirational character found on the fiotion inapiretional bast seller Uat wilen Ll01d c. Douglaa _de Ilis appearanc •• Mr. Douglas's first venture in fiotion made pub­ l1e1l1n& hiatory. In 1928. attar having written two boOD of religIous e.sa1•• he co_enced another in an effort to shov tile practioal results of eecret pIl1lantllroP1. It s._d too good an 1d.. to ba burl.d in a vol,.. of •••., •• and att_pted to

~ott. op. 91 t.. 232-233. project it in novel rorm. nus book. rejected by ....erol pubUlhing house •• waS brougllt out t1ll1dl,y by e small denom1nst10nal pre.s and had the beoer1ts or alJDost no promotion. It had been 1n circulation for two rears berore it reached the best-seller li.t. nus book. (1929). has 101d~ra than country.

tn. lucce.s with whioh ~agnir1cent Oboeo'lon was received ushered in the next era of popularity or the inspirational novel--or a. Ie... to be true or thll group. anoth.r author whale wr1ting pl•••• d the public. DoUglal' novel. vere ••rmona in d1sgu.1l. as were some others in this &rouping. 10 ... tter what t"e plot. all wera purpose nona containing a .ermon. but not direct preach1n&. Each of Dougla.· 1napirational nonls presented • 'lariation of the theme of pr.cticing Chri.t1an1 tr or the good lire. ~.gniricent Obsession. showed that he that 10seth his Ure shall rind it; Forgive V. Our Tre.pass.... that forgiven•• s can heal the hatred of greet injusticel Green Li!lht. that the tragic ruin or a Ure can be over­ come; ~lt. Banner•• that lineerity make. ror a life abun­ dant: and Di.puted Pa.sage. that the ,oul benefit. in a struggle for master,)'. Mr. Douglas' o.. n words sum up hi. reasons for writing and the popular reception or hi. books. If Il¥ no... l. are enterta1D1Dg I aa glad. but th.r are not written .0 lIuch ror the purpose of entertain­ ment .. or inspiration. Tb.ere are many people who realize thair &relit need or ethical and .piritual eoun.el. but ara unwilling to look ror it in a .erioua

~arry R. oarrel. (If." York: American Book Co., homUy or didactio essay. It has been my belie!' that many such persons can be successfully approached by a novel, o1'1'ering in a form palatable to them the in­ spiration they Beak. 7 The number 01' Douglas' successea indicate that evan

'oIi th the B&IIl6 approach used again and again, if the public 11k.s what a writer says and ho'ol he s"y" it, his "Udienoe may increase, rather than lesaen. One of the more modern of our inspirational novels i. The M,racle of the Bells. This title achieved the 1946 list in fourth place, and lad the 1947 list, Its author, Russell Janney, presented an interesting mOdern dey miracle and tlle Ufe ot Catholics in the Ull1ted States today. His approach was not so much a novelized sermon as inspiration which could be gained from the events capable of bringing about a miracle.

Cardinal Spellman. one of the cuts tanding Catholics, 01' this century also felt that he could reaoh the public wi th .. novel end produced The [oundlinll in 1961. Told with a warm simplicity which enhances its beauty, this tale appears symbolic 01' the saga of Everymani for eaoh reader can easily discern a semblance of his own soul reflected in the crystal now, and sense a Id.nship with the hero who, lost at first end last in adverse circus.tance, is doubly & foundling of d1vine caJ'fl. a

7 Kun1tz, op, Cit., p. 393, 8 E. F. Murphy, Chicago Sunday Tribune, May 27, 1951, p. 3. 25 All these inspirational novels had an appeal which loloyd C. Dou&las summed up as 1'0110"'.' Looldng haCk over the novels ot the past halt century that have contrived to outl1ve the decade in liIlich they ",ere published. one i. impressed by the very considerable IlllDber 01' .tories whicb have en­ dured because ot their moral purpose rather than their literary workmanship. There "ill always be room tor the "purpose novel." and aspiring .1'011118 writer. will do well to consider the importance of the schoot or rlction thet 1. more concerned with healing bguised spir1ts than winning the applause or critics.

9 Kun1tz, Opt Cit •• p. 393.

)LORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY --...... Library School ~ .. lallahauee ":'""

.-.-.- ~ , - .- .... ~.--- .... - - mE CLERICAL NOVEL

In add1 t10n to novels having their settinllll and characterizations drawn trom the Bible and tho •• having their themes centered around applied Chr1stianity. a third group ot religious novels have tound tavor with the public. those telling at the lives of ministers. '!'be great co... on religious experiences ot the b1!maD race have found continued and nrled portra)'al. In the m1dst ot all the changes in the world. the ancient th..... ot the centuries have h.ld the atten­ tion of men and found expreSSion in the recording ot the experience ot men. '!'bere is evidence ot the ponde!'lng of ultimate questions concerning man's nature and dest1nY. hi•• ense of insecurity. his be­ wilderments and doubts. tha disturbing exp~1ence ot oOnllcienoe and the

lnaltord E. Lucoock. Alnerican Mirror! Social Ethical and Religious Aspects at Alnerican L1terature 1930-1940 (New York: '!'be Macmil1en Co •• 1940). p. 262. 26 While the majorIt1 of the inspIrational DOvels were written b1 mini.ters, the novels about ministers' lives are in most cases written bT larmen. The first of these to obtain a wide audience in the twentietn centurr was Winston Churchill's 7,he Inside of tp.!! Cup. Here tne novel 1s a critioism of tne fashionable

churches. 1JIinSton ChurChill, well \cno>m for hiS historical novels,undertook a decidedlT different thema for tn!S book. He dealt with the decline of faith of tne 10unger generation. • • • 'lb.e ijilde of the cu¥ • • • was a thematic novel embO ng an argume~ for reoognIt10n of tne 80c18l values in the teaehing of Jesus. One cannot dip into the populsr literature of the first two decades of t.l.. ,;wentiath """tur1 without being 1m­ pressed by tJ,e emphasis on tile church and its problems.2 Ralph Connor (Charles William Gordon) used hi. experience. as a minister and missionary as background for manr of his books. He introdueed "'lb.e Sq Pilot· at the turn of the c""tur1 bUt did not see "The Sq Pilot" on the best seller list until 19l9 when 'lb.e SkY Pllot in "0 M!!I\' 8 1dIm w... in fifth place. Connor had served as a chaplain during the rirst World War and so was able to present his subject in autbentlC settings. ReligIon 10 here set forth in Its true 11ght as a 1100= or all that is Virile, stl'l11ght, hono:rable and withel tender and gentle in true man and women. And It was this rel1gIous motir thet started that vast host or religious fOlk who up to tb1s time had regarded

2rrank Luther Mott, Golden UnIt! tudes I The storr or Best Sellers in the United state. (ew York: The Macmillan Co., 1947), p. 226. novel-reading as a doubtful indulgence tor Chr1stian people. I have ree,,1ved hundreds at letters ax­ pressins gratitude Zor a novel that presented a quality ot relig10us Site that "red-blooded" man could read end enjoy. Simon Called Peter by Robert Keable, Engllsh clergy­ man end misslonary turned novelist, presented another army chaplain. Where as 'Ttle SIq Pilot· presented tbet wh10h Is manly and noble in the obeplain, 'Peter' trying to reaCh , the men on a common footing slipped end tell into the pit- falls that ha encouraged others to avold. Ttles.. wo tell ot lite at the front and the problelO.s of young army cbep. leins. Interest in the w.r cont1nu8d even to 1922 wilen qlmon Called Peter held flfth plece on the best seller li.t. Perhaps one at tha most dalO.ning novels dealing with m1nisters and their servioes Is 6inc'lair Lewis I Blp!er GoatD', number one an the 1927 Ust.

Is cericature I do not see how anyone I admit tbet no two informed readers would where the exaggeration 11e. • • • 1s a Swine, bUt it is not quite adequ,te to him a hYpocrite; in a vay, ha i. pertectly sincere in his respoDlle it not to the religiOUS, at least to the ecolesiastioal, 11fe. But he oan nelther oontrol hIS passlons nor keep hls mind orr the main chanoe, and the grossne.s at his nature obviates the possibl11ty at the struggle and sutfer- ing whiCh might _ the study of suCh a temperament in a better or more sensit1ve men reaUy ""'Ting. A. he kneels in PI'81er, on the last page ot ttla book, when ha is welcomed back by his congregation, atter bevins bean ·cle!U'8d" of the accusat10n brought against hlm by a woman, h1s heart fiU. with grat1tude.

3CIIar1.. W. the Autob10graphy of Ralph(}~:~g:~~I0~ R1ne- bert, 1938), p. 150. In the sue moment, he not1ce! a new singer 1n the cho1r--a girl with charming anklas and l1vely 81aS, • wi th whom he would certainly have to become acqua1nted.· Interes ting is it to note that the novel. critiois1ng tha church through it! m1nisters occurred in the same decade, one known as the Rcering Twenties, where1n decadence W&8 attecked both in the church and w1thout--§1mop Colled Peter in 1922 end .Elmer Gantrx in 1927. Stories of the Catholic priests do not Bhow this oritic1sm, bUt ther rather present human characteristics which present the priest in a favor­ able and pleas1ng light. n>e tw novel.s which tell of priests' lives a .... written w1th "1mpathT; A. J. CroDin,

The Keys of the K1l1Sdom (19n) and Henr1 ~l . Robinson, l'!!!. Cardinal (1950). Archibald Joseph CroDin, a Scottish doctor practic1ng in London has written a l1\Dber of best sellars, but lbe Ken of the Kingdom 18 his on17 book with a religloUl! thema. Cronin himselt 8a1s that the 1dea for the book came to h1m some ten 1ears ego, when he "'as in Rome, and the enlversa~ of a famous saint was be1ng oelebrated. "I lII1de up IIl¥ m1nd to wrl te a novel of a totally opposite character • • • a short, balding, human - little man who had made Ills take. , fallen down, and picked himself up again • • • I saw him suddenly as a m1ss1onar1, perhape the toughest aSsignment the Church could sive, and the East, which I knew from tha peregrinations of IIl¥ youth, a_ad as good a place as &n1 for him to taU to convert the heathen.· Dr. Cronin made his hero B Catholic priest because "an author can only wr1 tAl from his own knowled... end from the400:dward Birth otWagenknecht, the lIa tiOD ~~~~~[ Centur1 (II ... York; He~ Holt and Co •• 30

a. a Cathollc ~I val the alpect of rell810n tam1llar to .e. Hellr)' Morton Rob1neon in The C'rd1Aal us •• I"What tha s ..... e treatment as Cronin ln dealing wlth a prlest. Rob1neon, _ever, presents his storT tr.. the ...erloan point of view and 81 ves tile feel.1.n& of success vhich can be obtained in the Ufe of a priest. "TIle Cardinal,' top leller of the year, ",,8 b1 an author new to the beat seUer Usts • • • • Trade intarelt in "TIle Cardinal' ..... helgb.toned by It. pubUcat10n in both cloth and paperbound editions, the f1rst _:or trial or tb.18 .erehand181o& method for a best-aeU1n& no.,el. It 501d 435,516 cop1.. ~ paper, 158,879 in clotll, a total of 588,3115. TIle author v1th the most recent clerlcal novel on the best seller Uat 18 Aanes SUsh 1'urnbuU. Her novels do not follow the pattern of all7 of the others mentloned in thl.1 cbaptar. Pl' B1phoP'1 Mant)., Ihows how hard lt ls for a 10ung man to taU"" in the foot staps or his grand­

father, !I blshop. ManT of the present daTI problems of a Toung mini.ter and h1s vUe are shoWn in tha pag.1 or Il!! BishoR'S MAntle (1947). In her latest book, TIle Gown of Glory, Mrs . TurDbuU use. the nostal81c aett1n& of ttle "hOrSe and bugg;r daTs' at the turn of the century. 10 att.. pt to point out pre.l1n& problema or arrlve at

5~p10a:rapl!l, 1941 (lev York. H. W... Uson Co., 194£ ,p. 7. 6AUce l'a7n. Hackett, Mn lears of Il .. t SeUers (lev York. R. R. Bollker Co., 5, p. u. 31 aet1n1 te conclusions is made. Mr.. Turnbull presents e atorr in popular, readable best seller atrle. Dur1ng tile per10d 1900-1953 tIlirty titles have appeared on tile ye8l'~ bast seller l1sts 10Iblch could be considered as rellg10us flction. Twenty-nine of the yearly list. of this perlod oontained at least one re­ l1g1ous novel. TIle thirty tltle. have been tile vork of flfteen autllors. TIle novels pre ••nt tlJoely, if not enduring works, as observed from their lnolul1on in Fiction Catalog. Only sixteen titl•• of tile thirty were inoluded. Of these e1ght of Hsted sixteen were cons1dered 1 too for first purchase, flve for seoond purchase, and tIlree were 11sted without preferent1s1 symbol as suiteble for the pubHc library fiction colleotion. The novels show variation. in literary mer1t. Only

Ollll waS written by whet migh1i be considered as an outstanding author, Sinclair Lew1s, tile 1930 Kobel pr1ze ,,1nlIIIr for literature. TIle most popular end prolific author, Lloyd C. Douglas, with seven rel1gious f1ct1on best sellers to his credit, i. consldered, on tile other band, es an author of 11m! ted 11tersry abillty. Such UlIIIVQMeaB 1n 11tersry quality, according to Haines, does not dlsturb many readers. 32 Most readera know what tM1 want--lIOt specUic books, perbaps, but the general Id.lId ot read1n31 tbey will test a new venture by tba interest 1 t arouee.. , and it disappointed are IIOt likely to pureue it turtber. In their reaction to indlvidual boOks tbare 1. little apprehension ot crltical values •••• A great many readers are woolly insensltive to literary quality; to them, subject interest and morel acceptabllit1 are the only tbings tbat count. Comperatively tfN relate a book to Its autbor, wlth any recognition ot bis style, his Cbaraaterist!OS, bi. preceding worit, and hi. stetus as a writer. Just as tba novels ...ry in literary quality, they also vary in lengtb ot popularity. The Robe, the outstanding religious IlOvel, is tba only one to appear on tive di1'terent yearly lists a.o4 to reappear atter an absence ot saven years. Approximately a tblrd ot tba religious novels obteined a place on the yearly be.t seller list tor t>'a consacutive 1ears; the remainder appeared only on one. lhe first ot tbe twentieth century sbowed a leaaen- 1Ilg interest in religlon a.o4 turned toward problems ot Ule individual and the need tor social consclousness on tba part at the churches. this interest continued through the l'1rat World War to 1922. !ilmer Gantn ... ith ita caricature ot rellglon a.o4 mini.tera vas the only religious novel to attract vida interest in tba 1920' •• At the tille ot the Secm'" World War Americana .... re • • • clear, not starry-eyed, and questioning, but a;;are tbat it ..as a dirty jab vblch must b

luelen E. Raine., Llvins W1th Books (2nd ed., ·Colum­ bia University Studies 1n Library Sefflca," no. 2; Ii... York. Columb1a University Press, 1950), pp. 36-37. Thel sucked it in, one lIisht almost S"1, with theizo .others' milk. It pera.... ted the books tIle7 read, the p1.a¥a the7 saw, the talk tIlel heard. :!he7 vere skeptics tro. the cradle. But--alld this ""'7 be the g1tt the7 bring to the years ahead--the7 were al­ read;y protoundly aware at ttle need tor a n .... or renawed set at nlues, tor a ta!th in some tiling larpr and more real than tIleir tathers had tound. 2 Because ot the dislUulon perlod in the twentles

most people were under the aloud ot DC inspiration, heroel,

and Ideals in earl;r Ute. The eQtl'lu:~e into loiorld tiar II saw detemined lien tlshting to get a job done. From ex­ perlenoes on tha battle 11ne and upset lives at home, people in search at .ometh1ns to tle to reached out and tound ert­ dance at how others in another age up.et and harassed in spirlt and in bod;y, tound cc:atort and .olsce in !!be Robe, .. ttmel;r publication. As Uterature refieots the inner ttloul!hts at tile people, writers began to teel tIlis need on tile pert ot the people. Other novels d.signed tor the average reader were written ldlich tool< up tile inspirational or rel1gious theme. During this period an inorease in relig10us novels is seen tram 1939 to 1953: tUteen separate titles tor thet period were listed twent7-seven time. on the yeerl;r 11sts. During the modern period man would seem to be .t1ll aearching for inner strength tor his Ure. Realising the terrible impe.ct at the atomic and hydrog8l1. bombs, man perhaps realises thet he cannot place hi. taith in the

2J. Donald Adam., The Shape at BoOk! to Come (Kew Yon: The V1k!ng Pre.s, 1941), p. 179. material but must look to the spir1tual and continues to buT and read bOOkS designed to till such a need. Man's l'8ading interest indicates that he has a need tor something bas1c. '.!his trend towll1'4 relig10n 18 more than a reading interest, such as the popularity of the histor1cal novel, 1t i8 a det1n1te need on the part at the public for basic prinCiples tor living. By encouraging and making available bookS that the people nee4 or wish tor guidance, the librarian can otter bDOI<.I that appear capable of supplying solace, coatort, and enJo7Jllent to a publlc ••eking such aid•• Librarians in becoming better acquainted with such mater181. and in reoosnizing developmental values in the creative art of tiction as it panetrates Vi th insight and power into man's external and internal ·violence" may promote use of material that assuages the- • portents , tragedies, contusions, an4 1'ell1'9 that shadow the 1oIor14.·3 An4 in so doing thay may play a part in bringing about the adJustmellt man must make to m04ern Bociety, ror, according to Stanley R. Hooper: It 1s now tha question, he. to reconcile art and lUe, how to reconcile man to himselt, how to reconcUe man to his destiny, how to reconcile man to God. Tbe world at large will continue to surter this pain and blunder UIlcomprehendingly through 1ts aby.ses, but there will be some rew who will move 1cwardly through the narrow at rellgious assimilation and groWth. '.!hese are the men whose wOrks we I!U8t read, and whom we must

3sanlock Ellls, in Haines, op. cit., p. 507. a1d ~1th the h1gn seriousness ot cr1t1c1sm and further thougnt, albeit we may do so somevllat attar the pattem ot UMmlUlO'. benediction upon hi. r'!tder.: "M ..y God d8ll1 you peace, 8Ild give you glory'"

4stallley R. Hooper, ":!he Avakell1ng Religious Con­ sciousness,' L1bmry Journal, LXXVI (September 1, 1951). p. 1292. ,

APPENDIX

1907 9 :the Doctor, by Ra1pll Connor. Ravell.

19lJl 3 The1r Yesterdays, by Harold Bell Wrigllt. Book 5uppl¥ Co.

1913 1 :!he Inside ot tile .uP, by Winston Cllurcllill. Macmillan 7 :!he WOJ!lAIl :!hpu Gavest Me, by Hall Caine. Lippincott

19U 1 IIle g". ot tile World, by Harold Bell Wright. Book Supp Co. 2 IIle lnside ot tb.a CUp, by W1nston Churclll11. Macmillan

1916 2 lihen A Man's a Man, by Harold Bell Wright. Book Suppl¥ Co.

1916 7 :!he Major, by Ralpll Connor. Revell

*All the listings taken trom A11ce Payne Hackett's Fifty Years of Best Seller., 1896-1946 and Seyen Years at B,et Ballets, 1945-1951, except for tile years 1951 and 1962 lillioll were taken from fubl1shers' WeeklY. 37 38 1919 5 lb' Sky Pilot ill No Man'. Land, by Ralph Connor. Doran

6 ~e He-Creat1on or Brian Kent, by Harold Bell wrlgbt. ok SUpplY Co.

1920 II roe He-Creat1on or Brian Kent, by Herold Bell Wr1ght. ook Supplj Co.

1922 5 Sl,mon Called Peter, by Robert Keable. Dutton

1927 1 R]rcer Gantry, b7 Sillc1air lewis. Harcourt, Brace

1932 8 "'8gnUleent Obsession, by Lloyd C. Douglas. Willett, Clark

1933

~"S!lU1cent Obsession, by Lloyd C. Doug1es. Willett, lark 5 EHM US Our Tresp!!ues, by Lloyd C. Dougles. Hougbton

1935 1 Green L1ght, by Lloyd C. Douglas. Hougbton M1rnill

1936 6 White Banners, by Lloyd C. Douglas. Houghton MUrlill

1939 6 Di.puted Passege, by Lloyd C. Douglas. HOUghton ",urlill 9 lhe Ijaze,rene, by 6holem Asch. Putnam 119 1940 5 The Nazarene, by Shol"", Aseh. Putnam

1941

1 ~e Kef" ot the Kingdom, by A. J. Cron1n. L1ttle, Brown

194>l 1 :!'he Song ot Bernadette, by Frenz Wertel. V1k1ng Press 7 The Robe, by Lloyd C. Douglas. Houghton IUtn1n 10 :ih!l Keys ot the KWdOlA, by A. J. Cronin, Little, Brown

1943 1 :!he Robe, by Lloyd C. Douglas. Houghton Mlttl1n 7 lhe Apootle, by Sholem ABeh. Putnam 10 tne Song ot Bernadette, by Franz Wertel. V1k1ng Press

1944 2 lbe Robe, by Lloyd C. Dougles. Houghton Miftlin 10 Ihe ApOStl", by Sholem ASch. Putnam

1\145 2 The RQbe, by Lloyd C. DouglaS. Houghton Mlttlin

1946

4 ~ Miracle ot the Bells, by Russell Janney. Prentice- 1

1947 I The Miracle or the Bells, by Russell Janney. Prentlce­ Han 40 1948 1 :!he Big Fisherman, by Lloyd C. Douglas. Houghton Mitflln

4 The Bishop's Mantle, by Agnes Sl1gh Turnbull. Maem111an

1949 2 :!he IUs Fisherman, by Lloyd C. Douglas. Houghton MUnin 3 !!.IU:Z. by Sholem .lech. Put:l8lll

1950 1 ;the cardinal., by Henry )lorton Robinson. Simon" Schuster

1951 2 Mo.,., by Sholem .lech. Putnam 4 The cardinal, by Henry Morton Robinson. Simon a. Schuster \I :!he FoJUldllng, by Cardinal Spellman. Scribner

1952 1 The SHvar Chalice, by :!hOJnaS B. Co.tain. Doubleday 8 :!he Oown of Glor.:t;, by Agnes Bl1gh Turnbull. Houghton k1t1'l1ii

1953 1 jha Robe, by Lloyd C. Douglas. Houghton MUfUn 2 l'l!e Silver Chalice, by Thomas B. C09tain. Doubledey

AgnDteted Bibliograp~

Sho1em. ~e A~tle. TranSlated by Meurice a(!)lluel. Sew Yor, G. • PUtnam's Son9, 1943. A no.... 1 based on the ute 01" St. Peul, by the author ot The Nazarene. It 1s primar1ly a work of expOSition, an

*Unless indicated otherwise, annotet10ns are from Book Rev1ew Disest, 1900-1953. 41

Mcount of the growth of the earl), Christian doctrine and the spread of Christ1an1t)'. and an interpretation of Christ- 1an1t)' as the culmination and finest step in Jewish re­ l1gioUS development.

____ • ~ar~ Translated by Leo Ste1nberg. New York: G. • tnam's Bons, 1949. !be final velume of the author'. trilog)' completing the stor)' begun in The Nazarene and :rM Apostle. !his follows the stor)' of Mar)' and her son from Mar)". marriage to Joseph to the Crucifixion an~ Resurreot10n.

----;\-' Moses. Tranlated by Maurice BBlIlUel. Ne., York: G. P. Putnam'. Sons, 1~5l. In this histor1cal mural drawn from BIb11cal sources Mr. Asch offers a panorem1.c novel of the Exodus, .,1th Moses the ep1c hero. Froa the earl), identificat10n of Moses with the Egyptian god Hal'tlS, through might)' deeds and deep 8utt'ering of soul, to the final as.umption of Moses into hea'ftll of the Hebrew God, tne tal. has heroic proport10ns.

____ • !be Nazarene. Translated by Maurice SBlIlUBl. Ne.,-Xork: G. P. Putnam'. Bons, c1939. A novel based on the life of Christ. !be .tory. s.t in a trameworll: of mooern Poland, is retol~ from three different p01nts of view. F1rst there 1s the narrat10n as a modern Pol1sh Jewish scholar hears 1 t from the lips of one who olaims to be the reincarnation of the Roman militar)' governor of Jerusalem. Then there is the 'fifth gospeV vr1 tten by Judas Iscar1ot, and finall)' there i. the ltory a. the 11lung Jew remembers 11: when he realizee that he himself ie the .... incarnation of a disciple of tba Pharisee, Rabbi Nicodemo ••

Philadelphia : C.ine, (Slr)J. B. n~t~1~1I'~ Hall Caine' 8 latest stor)' 1s a highl)' elllOUonal tele, told in th_ first person by Mar)' O'lIel11, its heroine, wlth occasional interpolated note. b)' )I",rtin Conrad, her lover. Mar)"s girlhood 1s spent on the i.le or Ellan, in the earl)' ICeD81 th. stor)' resembles "The Deemster" and other ManX telesl in its later development, however, 1t tekes on the coloring of Mr. Caine's later bookS: an indictment or the Catholic church in it. attitude toward divorce being the chler motif. 42 Churchill, W1nston, ille Inttde of the Cup. lIew York' The Macmillan Co., 13. . The Reverend John Hodder, an Episcopal clergyman, who has spent the ;velU'll since his ord1nstion in a ,ecluded New England parish, is called to a fashionable church in a middle-western 01 t;V. He knows singularl;v little 01' modern problems and in this thGolog;v i. aa orthodox as the rich men who control his church could ded..... But s t. John'., his church, is located on Dalton street, a tborofara once fash­ ionable that has now become the home of poverty and want and fice. The taots of modern lite are thrust upon Hodder, an awakening follows, and a struggle, and in tbe end he works out a solution which brings with it a stronger renewal at fa1th.

Conner, Ralph (Pseud. of Charles William Gordon). The Doctor, a tale of tlle Rockies. New York: To H. Revel Co., 01906. A ratber conventional tale, but will be very popular wi th readers ot earlier stories by tbe SBOle autbor. Like them, it has a stronl! rellgious biu.

____• :!he Major. !lor« York, George!!. Doran, c19l'1. The motU at Mr . Connor's st017 1s one whose petri­ otic cl1max and poignant oadence echo 1n tbe souls ot millions of men and women the world over today.

New York, George H.• This sto17 traces tbe career of Barry Dunbar from a high-minded and sincere but somewhat inettectual IIl1ssional'Y preaeher, to a bero's death as army chaplain, having passed all the stages from mere ·sky pilot· to his battalion to their strong inspired spiritual leader and comrade. The beautiful love and comradeship between Barry and his fatber and the equally beautitul and delicate love episode between Barry and Phyll1s are tbe charm of tbe book.

Costain, Thomss Bertram. The sgv.!' Cb§.l!c~. Hew York, Doubleday, 1952.

The Silver chellce WM Ii frame meant to hold tbe sacred cup from Whioh Christ drank at the Last supper. Th1s novel, based on legends of the years following Christ's cruCifixion, describes the life of BaSil, the artisan, who fashioned the 811ver chal1ce. The scenes are laid in Antiooh, Rome and Jerusalem.

Cron1n, Archibald Joseph. The Keys of tbe IUnlisom. Boston. Little, Brown and Comp~. 1941. Character study ot Frenois Cllisholm, a lovable Scottish Catholic priest. It begin. with his bolhood atte=pts to earn a living atter the death or his father and mother, and tollows his oareer thru hi. lears ot training for the priesthood at HolJ'Vell. and in Spain, and his early stnggles in getting adjusted to his lite work. Atter working in several difterent parishes, Pather CIl1sbolm was sent to a mission in the interior of China, where his brave tight to help humeni tl thrtt tamine, flood, and pestilence, lasted for over thirtl year.. l'hen Ilis plaoe was taken by two young prittste, Father Chi.holm-­ old, lame, and weary, but still indomiteble, came home to spend hi. remaining years in hi. nstive scotland.

Douglas, Lloyd Cassel. ¥ B1f aShaFlDll!l. Boston, Houghton M1rtl1n 0., 9 • By the author ot ±he Robe, this closely follows the BibUcal account of Jesus' ),ears of ministry. l'he big fisherman, Simon Peter, his famill and hi. neighbors, are the leading charaoters. Joseph of Ar1mathea, Jairtts, Herod Antipas, John the Baptist, and the disciples, Philip, Andrew, James and John all play their parts. An international element is introduced with the love interest wh1ch con- cern. a beautiful young girl, halt Arab, half Jewish.

____ • P1spsted fas,age. Boston: Houghton M1tflin Co., 1939. An em1nent neurologist, noted for his sarcast1c comments, discovers among hi. student. a young man who is brave enough to defy him and earnest enough to work his W8f to the top. Despite the bitter personal antagonism between the two, they work together on a baSis of mutual respect, until eventualll thel no longer dispute tile passage with each other.

___...,' l'or!Ilve g. ~ Trespa!Ses. BOlton. Hougbton Mir!'IIid;o., 193i!. Dtnny Brumm had inherited trom his young mother, who died when he was born, a consuming hatred for h1s environ­ ment, hil family, and conventional religion. In time ha becomes a luccesstul writer ot oynical ~ournalism but loses the girl he loves because of the confliot between their ideals or love. l'hen he disc oven a letter in an old desk of his mother's, which by changlng his view ot the past and giving him a new attitude toward his enem' es, brings him regeneration. ____• Green Li&ht. Bostonl Houghton Miftlin, 1935.

Dean Harcourt, 01' a lIiddlew•• tern cathedral, is the IIOtinting rorce in this eto17 or presentday America. lhe dean had been crippled by 1nf'ant1le paralJ'sis early in bie career and b'.. subsequent surtering had made bim more aware or suUering in other people. He takes a hand in r1ghting the .. rong done to a young surgeon, and in time 1s instru­ mental in bringing about the marrlege 01' the surgeon and another or h1s protaps.

____,. Magnificent Obsess10n. lIaw Yorio Willett, Clart< and Corby, 1929: lhe "IIagnlf'1cent Obseedon" that weB the secret or the fOliOUS Dr. Hudson's INCc.os--a newly interj>reted Christian teaching we! j>Ut into practice at Dr. Hudson'. death b1 the young .... n who became his successor as e brain speelel18t, Bobby Merrick. Bobby, by continuing b1s "personality-in­ vestments· in the >lay or .ecret philanthropies, as advooated by Dr. Hudson's rormula, II1raculouslJ' succeeds, and makes a ramoua surgical invention w1 th which he is able to save the 11te or the woman be loves.

---' The RObe. Boston: Houghton MUllin, 1942. Novel based on the l1f'e or the young Roman soldler, Marcellus, who we. in charge or the crucU1xion or Christ, and who won !.is robe .. hen the garment. were 'partad among them. '

____• White )lanners. BOltonl Houghton Mirnin. 19:56.

Wh8n pretty, inoompetent Marcia liard ailows Hannah Parmalae to step into hal' kitchen, she unwillingly turns over to her the ordering 01' the family lUe tor the next twenty years. lhe. tory 1. concerned in pert with the wards' progress from debt an\! near-poverty to attluence, in part w1th Hennab'. seoret, but oh1ef'lJ' with Hannah's ph1losophY of 111'. whiob Wluences the 11ves or so many others.

Ja:nney, Russell. The M1racle of the Bell•• lew York: Prent1ce-Hall, 1946. l'ha story or a girl who might heve been a Hollywood star and her pre.. agent who thought h1s ambit10ns and hi. 45 lave died with her, until the 'miracle ot the bella' OCCU1'I'ed in a little Pennsylvania IIlnlng town."

K84ble, Robert. Simon em.d Peter. Ifew York: E. P. Dutton and Co., a 21. Peter 1. an Arm¥ aheplein who goes to the Front with the hlghest Ideals and intentions. He perc elves that, owing to hls oloth. his aompanions entlrely h1de the1r real wlshes and desires trom h1m, and steps d~ 11> their level in order to obtain the Slll1pathY at compre­ hens10n. Untortunatel¥. however, he does not maintain a detached att1tude, but really becomes a sinner him- 8elt, and h18 santimental adventures are related in 1I1nute d.tail by the author.

Lewls. Sinclair. Elmer Grntrz. lIew york: Harcourt. Brace and Co •• 19 • In Elmer Clant1.7, Bapt1st-Methodist preacher. ex­ aggerated type ot all that 1s most grotesque and vulgar in sectarian religion. Sinclair Lewls adds a violent stroke to h1s growing plcture ot materialist Amer1ca. '!he ahurch in till Its tOr3S i. satlr1aed. Ifo insincerity at weak­ ness 1s allowed to escape. Elmer Gent1.7 1s 'converted' in his college days durlng a ~lval, "oalled' to the - ministr" under the same emot10nal strels and ordained a Bapt1st m1n1ster. Atter IIIIUIf exper1ences at a not too savour;y nature, including a year or 1I0re 1n the traln ot Sharon Falconer, Ii woman evangel1st at dublous reputatIon, and adventures in varlous torms r4: religlous charlatanr,v in the hope ot qUick Unancial returns, he becomes at last the p&stor of a flourIshing Method1st anurch in a c1ty ot the middle west. By 9uccessful advertising methods, in the best Babbitt tradition. he becomes & power in the cOl!llluni ty. Elmer Gantry. lITPoori te and voluptuary. is painted agains t a beckground ot churoh ..embers and profe.sing Chr1stians searcely lesa hypocr1tlcal than he.

Robinson. Henr" Morton. :!he Cardinal. New York: SimOn and Schuster. 1950.

A b10graph1cal novel whIch tollows the career ot an Amer1can Roman Cathollc pr1est trom the beginning at one world W&r to the beginning ot the second. Tne ohiet

.Flction Cataloll. 1950 Edi tlon (lfew York. H. W. WilSon Co •• 1951). 46 Character, the author 8&78, 18 nctional tho the portralt 1. based to some extent on several priest. the autbor bas known.

Spellnn, l1'1'encis Joseph, Card1nsl. :!be J'Qundl1ng. lev lCork: Scrlbner, 1951. Short17 arter Ch:rlst1l1ll. 1n 1918 Paul l'aggart arrived 1n li.w Yor!!: from the war, scarred and lacking an arm. In the Cathedral he found all abandoned baby end turned the chUd over to the Ca tholla J'01lIldling bome. Wl til re.-84 faith 1n himself be found courage to face hi. mother and the glrl he loved. But "hen he went to adopt the foundl1ng he discovered he could not, beoause Paul Wall a Prot.estent. l'Ilru the )'eare Paul kept 1n touch w1 th Peter who hed meant 80 much to him, a.Dd when Peter, bl1nded ln \/ orld War 11 came home it vas Peul's voice whlch greeted him.

Tnmbull, Agne. B11gh. :the B1shop's Mantle. lIew York: The Macmillan Co., 1947. ShoVI the drama, tbe humor, the pathos, the edvan­ ture 1n the 40.117 round as Hilary Laurens, grandson ot a bishop, trles to live his faith, his ldealism, hls enthu­ siasm for hi. chosen protession. :the vife he adores ls labelled b)' many as frlvolous and fast, but baslcallJr sound. Bhe works through to lome Ilea sure of success a. his wife. Hi. Senior werden is perhaps his chlef lrrltatlon--a man powerful 1n hi .....al th, determined to keep h18 young rector from l1eddling 1n the questionsble source. of hi. fortune. It' $ set 1n the period ;lUSt before Pearl Harbor.

____ • :th!! CIo!" of Glory. Bostolll Houghton Mifflin, 1952. Ufe 1n the homs of a Presbyterian minlster 1n e small Penns),lvania town 18 the theme of this novel. The time i8 the earl)' 1900' s.

Werfel, l1'1'snz. BOng of BerMdette. Translated b)' Ludvig Levlsohn. Bew York: The V1k1ng Pre •• , 1942. On rebruary 11. 1858, a poor. 111serable, as_t1c, rather dnll-v1tted, but imaginatlve fourteen-year-old girl, Bernsdette Saubirous, hed a vlsion of a 'beaut1tul lad)", a vision later declared b)' the Church to be a true evocetion of the Ho17 Virgin. In the last 4&7- of June, 1940, the author l1'1'anz Wertel, 1n desperate fl1ght frol1 the lIaz.ts, found b1mself at Lourdes. In the extremi t)' ot hi. distress 47 he vmoed that he voul.d somedaT wrIte the Itory at Bernadette so that he II11gnt masnity, even In our inhuman era, "the dIvine III1stery aDd holin.... 01' man.' b Song at Bernadette Is the fulJ.'1llment 01' that vow."

WrlBht, Harold Bell. :!he !!lYe. 01' the Ilorld. ChIcago, :!he Book SupplyCo., 1913. the tItle suggest. a protest agaInst the world'. way at looking at things. That's the caso: writera and artIsts who prostItute theIr talent are soundly soourged, and the sordid, selt-Ieeking "patrons at art", so called, wIll tind a most thorough denuncIation at themselves in those Croesan nesh-pot hunters, the Taines. Pompous art­ crItic', with their voluble rant, also come in fbI' a good share 01' the author'l sabring • • • • :!he aotion 10 stepd .... ong tha trail. and vales at Bouthern Calltorn1e.

____,. :!'he Recmtlon at Brian Kent. Cblcago: The Book Supply Co., 1919. this 1. the story at the regeneratIon or a man who bad robbed a bank to supply the want. 01' an extl"avagant ..,ita and who, then on the road to ruin and suicide, i. rescued by a woman who had bean a school teacher in her youth. In Aunty Sue'. cabin, he comes into touch w1th nature and his healing baSins. He wr1tes a book, and the girl vho come. into the ..,1lderneo. to type his manuscrIpt 1. another good 1nnuence in hI_ Ure. the wIt.. appears on the scene but her t1ll8ly 4eath NIIlove. the one ob­ stacle to complete happ1D6S ••

____• TheIr Ye.terdays. Chioago, Book SUpply 00., Scarcely tlction, but rather a vaguely personalized sermon upon the intimate attairs 01' mind anc\ heart and suul that are common to aU the .ons and daughteM or men.

___-.. When" MIn's a )Ian. Chicago: Book: SuPP17 Co., 1916: AS usual in hls novels, Hr. Wrignt does a good deal 01' preaching 1n bl. new story, hiS theme being the mental, physical, and spiritual good that a man may derive trom part1cipation in the Ufe 01' the southwestern plains and mountains • BIBLIOGRAPHY

lIooka Adams, J. Donald. Fre Sharg of 1I00ka New York: The Viking ress, '4. Drury, Franc1s K. W. Book Seleet!on. L1brar:r Currieu1lD Studies. Chicago: Americen Library Association, 1930. Gordon. Charlas W. pgstspr1Pt to Adventure I the Autob1og­ r&J>h¥ of Ralp Connor. lIewXorkl Farrar IUld R1nellart, 1938. Gray, William S. and Munroe, Ruth. The Reading Interests and Habits of Adul,ts. lie" York: 'hie Macliill1il!i Co •• 1930. Haokett, Alice Payne. Fifty 'leers of Best Sellen. 1895- ~. II .... York: R: R. Bowker Co., 1945. ___...,' Sev"n ars of' Best Sellers 1941>-1951. Supple- men i!l Years a :§es Se ere. lie" York: ~. R. Bowker Co •• 1952.

Haines, Helen E. L~V1ng ,,1 th Book!.i the art of Book Selec- tion. 2nd • Columblii UtUversitT studies in Library Service, no. 2: Ne.. York: Columbia Univer­ sity Press, 1950.

Hart, ,i"r.mes Devid. 'l)le POPJllar Book; A H1stor:r of Amerioa's Literary Taste. Hew York: Oxford University Press, 1950. Kel1er, Helen Rex. Hew York: The MaI'DU..LJ.a

Lenrow, • lIew York:

Luccock. Halford E. Sooial, Ethica1 and Religious Literature, 1930- 1940. Hew ~OJ"'" l'll!t.'CllJlL.uan Co., 1940. 48 49 Matt, FraIlk Lutller. Goldel! My.l1;itudes; the Story of Best Sellers in tile United Stetes. Hew York: 'lbe Maomillan Co., 1947. Quinn. Artllur Hobson. Al!!er!can Fict!9n; An Historical and Cri tical Suney. N..... Yorl.:: D. Appleton-Century Co., c 1936. Stetferud, Alrred, (e4.) the Wonderrul World or Booka. N..... York, Hollgbton Milliin Co., 1952. Strang, Ruth. ClUcago, lb.e

WageDknecht, Edward. Ca""~de .or the wer1mdovel; . tram the B1rth of Nation to tile M1 e of the Twentieth Caotury. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1951l. Waples,

Waples, end Ralph W. Tyler. Ch1cago: The • Wartel, Harry R. Am!lrlcan Novelist. or ToW. Hew York: American Book CompaD¥, 1951.

World CounoU ot Churche.. ~''I Dl!order and God's Des1e;p. The AmIIter<1am Assemb series. New York, Harper. end Brothers. n.. d.

Uticle! EDen, Eugene. "Reading, Writing and Religion," Harpers, con (May. 1953), 84-90. Hooper, Stanley R. "The Awakening Religious Consciousness.' Library Journal. LlIXVI (September I, 1961). 1289-90. HutchinS, Roberl M. 'The Publ1c Libraryl its plaCe in Education,' l;he Library Quarterly, XX (July, 1960), 186-186. "Marl

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