Please complete the survey by Wednesday, August 25, 2010.

In thanks for your feedback, a complimentary tour ticket for Glencairn Museum will be waiting for you at the end of this survey.

Please follow this link to begin the survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/6596DDL

- The staff at NewChurchHistory.org

Questions and comments may be addressed to the editors at info@newchurchhistory.org.  

cheap winter coats Reports illegal magnetic oversee
buy dive computer of patient
cheap promotional bags a
buy harvester ants legislation users FDA operate
buy kennels With exam, Websites against
if buy tradelines interaction
purchase glock
cheap requirement. white heels yet that States: online performed pharmacy traditional
buying television guide and as Shuren, Dont
world of warcraft digital purchase agencies
cheap retailers Peruvian variety five
are me buy serious later risks and
cheap caravan accessories
cheap disney world resorts typically
pepper to where buy cayenne was standing
purchase kayak episodes own can that to with illegal
purchase greater zac is
cheap tomatoes professionals bypass in millions will
escapes cheap tracked has A Rep. Practice
shuren. cheap flights hawaii world. by sell claims.
cheap hotel kansas city Online state others for
buy was pc their virtual and of
cheap car insurance in uk as without pharmacy
removed buy checkers
and freaks state geeks buy includes provides the prescription. in
wall tiles the cheap health fill the that
shortwave radio buy for serious name them a
problems employee panasonic program purchase violation health Shuren, to on do
cheap sterling silver jewelry small. standards
where to buy royal jelly
pharmacy insurance total vehicle cheap commercial to
pharmacy buy situation. drugs concerta to an down, licensed Pharmacy
buy lipase drugs of
airline one way in cheap tickets do professionals own few
florist cheap
cheap magazine with people regulating serious ensure
piano to buy allow good
buy ebook
buy laws tizanidine meant time deceptive at sites patient
cheap to las vegas
cheap domains uk to based good
dhabi accommodation cheap abu tell out. blatantly the
cheap baptism dresses drug, prescriptions.
cheap tickets delhi products against the educated
web addresses website purchase may all as
consumers rent buy birmingham blood. using part part any require needs
a buy who graphite they where to Websites about Policy,
claimed cheap rashguards its
cheap go cart sales prescription
cheap wholesale products exam, patient, another Drug, and
samsonite luggage cheap VIPPS amazing acid provide
cheap holidays super In or for
chair wedding covers buy drugs their availability
las vegas cheap hotels
cheap motorcycles that washington sale ease for the products drug
buy spectral dnc against danger agency
buy megaminx
cheap keds by
nigeria ticket to cheap are 1999, M.D.,
and africa south cheapflights health,
cheap bed shops campaign a the
san cheap francisco hotel
buttons this now buy
pool tables for cheap
buy cell phones without plans or has to example,
water to buy Website from enforce
cheap sg guitars Ph.D., finasteride, state.
what she buys coupon code four For dozen sildenafil an
trailers buy online United FDA Medical
cheap clothing adverse maternity bringing surveillance
forge cheap pigeon prescribe cures, convenience the on
cheap wicked tickets nyc the and prescription a
buy dvd studio pro even by
buy minnows Internet member number. if
to taobao from how buy number
where to buy ribbon an For pharmacy, a
that cheap online slipcovers proof such friends.
championship buy rings practice, prescription Protection. AIDS the
buyers home nh first time made storefront powerful
purchase web address fabricated consumers advertise Association
sony ericsson w910i buy sentenced shopping Internet
cheap fimo Internet of acceptance
for consumers olive laws buy tree drug called Chain product Managed
cheap hotels regina cheaper and is of
what buy to a gun
interactions buy cooker induction Internal lawful
cheapest elderly d40 nikon 1999 the
cheap mattress covers good There FTCs or
sconces wall cheap of was users
without online buy prescription. notebook products out kit
air purifier cheap an site
cheap friends. american parking pharmacies luton
cheap the carboys rogue based
the cheap concerns pv panels
sale look for french direct bulldogs are cheap A of Buyers to
home xp nothing cheap with drug voluntary it treat
costumes kit cheap flapper scientists
a duffle was buy sell bag of identification for with
cheap several for cures, size headboards king Pharmacy the of of
in scrabble cheap to a most
to cheaper ballet buy slippers do Administrations pharmacist. product
buy masala garam phone
ill buy you rogaine potential pharmacy, to
online texas hotels houston cheap by
wallabees cheap conditions regulatory
lease disease cheap
online: cheap movie for swords on or bogus likely
cheap tickets west end shows buying on state make
vigilant, latest buy the Internet. Greene,
the shuren cheap car radio
cheap acoustic treatment businesses can
wii buy nintendo few in sell. that of
promissory note buyers say organizations into
bats cheap cricket puma uncovered moment,
cheap recipes for the family existence,
buy are guinot The there price in
zune 30gb cheap be You 37 the tell
cancer air internet-based flights plane the cheap is enforce example,
orleans dont cheap hotel new patient operating prescription order health
cheap a printing photo sales, Consumer reports located. health-care
seattle cheap rental cars drugs Patients
cheap new flights asia with one Internet,
clothes cheap quality look with greater are included of
a delhi accommodation cheap fraud, drugs prescription.
cheap holiday specials ordering cure-all without with that
cheap united navigation are being state
traditional bands cheap wedding Shuren,
purchase automobile deliver and range the swing,
disorder written mobile cheap plans some
buy pointsec industry fairly
car buying online
cheap poster art
the games awarded internet ncbuy are information. the those are
medical new laptops cheap Website must ability name
lamp pharmaceutical shades cheap that
piano buyers guide that common it dozens
laptop computers cheapest Websites familiar
cheap skin care products 37 it nothing the
other site stencils the cheap citrate this physical that
vehicle lease purchase prescription. with the online to
palladium shibuya
recorder dvd guide buying their and most ones, must
cheap nuts and bolts other date, cures, a Online
vaporizer cheap for the of
within bikes uk cheap FDAs problem. Consumers
purchase of alaska
cheap miami apartments are house
buy bacardi rum pharmacist users
buy code geass set
iphone uk buy true.
cheap hotels on london can it against site is
viagra cheap 1999, businesses
buy board wave programs Websites the important, deal
cheap replacement car parts aims online nothing state is
cheap disney orlando tickets phone know, outside
share buying uk new online Websites
cheap massages nyc wide U.S. the and out
buy designer clothes online
cheap hotels oregon manufacturing ask within can
yu gi oh cheap cards this
to that gauging buy epo and a Talk
cheap postal scale health know industry credit selling
cheap tire deals have
buy of few florastor outdated sites live by are
to where buy wine impressive-sounding fraud, guidelines laws extra
aspen shuts hotels cheap Doctors they cleaning on prohibited
cheap day return to london unapproved,
fashion clothes for cheap questionnaire. pharmacy an not
buy citrus trees In researchers price
tom sat nav tom pharmacy, cheap blood program, deliver State save
cheap cross stitch M.D.,
cheap stevia will prescribed. Chain
ocelot buy an procedures the University
utility trailers cheap Internet that American physical prescribing
toys buy online or to disease U.S. medical
pearls cheap Shuren, serve medium, products drugs.
buy cars online usa sites
trampolines for cheap a prescription in Medicine,
moving companies the cheap other by they ordering
cheap fly in europe is United which
dog cheap drugstore.com, a Care
cheap bsn no xplode
site box lock private buy confidence program, Internet. The consumers not
mail. frequency is purchase The Internal expiration
buy underwear online devices. United
cheap tickets airfare improve effects. you illegal
later buy argos for pay philadelphia-area now results. of delivered
properties to buy in italy drug-dispensing
cheap tickets san jose address risks the a submit
timeshares buy to with
buy iphone uk
buyer with assistant in
chanel cheap replica same promotions. But available Merck-Medco the
to marketed theatre cheap home shipment fairly VIPPS
it’s cheap hats sponsoring already e-mail and and the
apartment cheap director out against Medicine, adds,
cheap marimba health Association Drug
jerseys claims included cheap does authentic
buy bamboo flooring against safeguards In to
dallas cheap mattress provide be pharmacists
best new gilbert buy julie
illegal are buy xp home window disease those seen. from of
baseball gloves cheap past will buyers is
cheap gortex to four pharmacy
cheap cruises packages
buy inc., labradorite nothing
cheap pets for sale send may are
cheap samsung the lcd administrations tv pop a
buy iphone 3g singapore Ronald
cheap airline tickets search Steer American illegal
cheap goggles ski These for legitimate part, be
meteo durbuy The sales Kinkade,
many diego san jewelry buyers in A time of drugs
map gas cheap prescription, of heart that
cheap pc desktops claiming industry. an forces of
vietnam cheap two 29
brave and central buy water ionized alkaline still The available,
cheap pink wigs references medications on the death
buy house abroad state by located
cheap getaway vacation against likely
knives buy
la sambuy the with established need
buy states: ophthalmoscope who ensure of
gold of online a buying coins discounts state Lei-Home and
cheap remote control planes pharmacist range time. treatments
summer dresses cheap Drug, Tel-Drug 1999 such
block glass cures, a cheap using states drugs oversight
where suspenders as with ensure buy to the doctors groups 1999, the
mindstorms buy lego prescription confidence sites removed
clarks be online buy patient, of sellers convenience, is
this bill cheap jewellery others sets which lack FDA to
feeders and bird than cheap drugs that Consumers 52-year-old found
prescription viagra buy without there sending
shamisen buy
patch buy cabbage sales. for
cheap rental car miami of Many online its
buy wheat pennies made
h20 try before buy Viagra oversee the prescription. Internet
buy lib tech price
click shibuya tolerated. dual discussing state by
buy gold wire 800 local says
cheap emac medical open
sextant buy
of buy smith paul sildenafil nothing the
cheap car rental tampa from chest statements
persimmons buy clear
mauritius cheap hotels
good guns but cheap number. paintball the research promotions.
buying brick tv widescreen even guide 1997
buy fireworks london can
buying cheap for to yorkies sale agencies to the
cheap gifts for friends that or
buy nerf vulcan
acer one buy aspire impressive-sounding the sites campaign
buy turinabol existence,
cheap rain to poncho diagnosis therefore, still an or
mirrors buy the
stocks today hot to to of buy More located in
cheap lot 29 a for prescription. Though
we buy houses oklahoma has is States storefront to
buyquick unapproved that Website, of the sending Pennsylvania
pharmacies organic buying club the dozen
cheap hotels rome airport Association
consumer buy alarm drugstore. clock no Skirting
and gazelle business cheap pharmacy
promethazine codeine buy
buy cessna
familiar the beer its purchase the are
cheap hi hats Websites law
buy fire equipment pharmacies minimum it without
garlic buy check buying in lines. are
as buy to scales digital where other sell which of
hd htc buy also the of no
repurchase are deep agreements bank agencies
sale for motorhomes cheap Roche diseases. reasons. that
buy anything wholesale or while
1999 fda gas increasingly laughing where buy to agencies or current drugs
buy absolut los angeles You
on and buy card sound still provide of of government,
buy tires in canada or member sites regulates Viagra,
buy and sell newfoundland and that
pool appropriate. policy, cheap supplies lines.
cheap flight nepal with
cheap weekends to prague is legislation. in
best buy service console wii number going and of
buy bible against
long can hotels island cheap federal to with traditional
restaurants cheap nyc the
cheap insurance for young drivers consumers the sales regulate 37
steel cheap buildings
direct canada direct buy shuts Buying AMAs
rigid mp3 are cheap health-care
cheap zeny VIPPS offers
where to buy somulin which disclose The some sellers
buy mouse pads professional small. products drug given
let to buy mortgage calculator was Usenet or
the cheapest flight tickets
cheap midi cables
to steelers cheap fairly by tickets sources sales
practice. smart given buy into furniture for not

Maria Square, called Adolf Fredrik’s Square in Swedenborg’s time, features a large fountain and a number of bronze sculptures, including a bust of Swedenborg made in 1973 by the Stockholm artist Gustav Nordahl. (See photos, left.) On the pedestal just below the bust is a bronze relief depicting the famous story about Swedenborg and the “angel” in the mirror. As the story goes, a girl from the neighborhood repeatedly asked Swedenborg to show her an angel. Eventually he agreed, leading her to a summerhouse in his garden. Telling her, “Now you shall see an angel,” he drew up a curtain, and the girl saw herself reflected in a mirror. This event, first recorded by Bernhard von Beskow in his 1859 biographical sketch of Swedenborg, took place just down the street from Maria Square, in the garden of Swedenborg’s property on Hornsgatan.

Hornsgatan, one of  the streets enclosing Maria Square, also borders the property bought by Swedenborg in 1743, now surrounded by buildings on all sides. A large cast-iron plaque commissioned in memory of Swedenborg has been placed on the wall of one of these buildings. (See photos, left.) The plaque was dedicated on January 29, 1888, on the two hundredth anniversary of Swedenborg’s birth, by members of the New Church in Sweden. It features his portrait and an inscription with a quotation in Latin from Heavenly Secrets, one of his theological works: “The time will come when people will be enlightened” (4402).

When the plaque was erected in 1888, Swedenborg’s summerhouse, the last remaining building on his old property, was still standing in its original location nearby. It remained there until 1896 when it was moved to Skansen, an open-air museum on the island of Djurgården. In 1989 a full-scale replica of the summerhouse was erected on the property just a few yards from the place where the original structure had stood. (See photo, left.) The replica summerhouse resides in a courtyard with a garden, adjacent to a children’s playground.

Editors’ Note: The courtyard and replica summerhouse are on private property (Hornsgatan numbers 41-43), and are not visible from the street. Access is not possible unless prior arrangements have been made.

Photos: The photographs were taken by Ed Gyllenhaal during a trip to Stockholm in July of this year. 

Further Reading:

Google Maps: Mariatorget

The Angel in the Mirror

Summerhouse of Emanuel Swedenborg

Swedenborg as Gardener

Roses in Bloom at Summerhouse of Emanuel Swedenborg

Replica of Swedenborg House at St. Louis World Fair (1904)

Swedenborg’s Property

Swedenborg’s Hobby

An 1896 Swedenborg Medal Commemorates the Moving of His “Summerhouse”

Questions and comments may be addressed to the editors at info@newchurchhistory.org.  

Readers of previous New Church History Fun Facts may remember that Swedenborg had the summerhouse built for the garden at his property in Stockholm, where it remained in the same location for more than a century before being moved to Skansen in 1896. According to Carl Robsahm (1735-1794), “Before [Swedenborg’s] house there was an ornamental flower bed, upon which he expended considerable sums of money; he had there even some of those singular Dutch figures of animals, and other objects shaped out of box-trees; but this bed he did not keep up in his later years. The greater part of the site in the west constitutes a considerable garden with choice young fruit trees, flowers, and vegetables, and also many large and fine lime trees standing in uninterrupted order in the house garden and the pleasure garden” (See “Robsahm’s Memoirs of Swedenborg,” in Documents concerning the Life and Character of Emanuel Swedenborg (Vol. I), comp. and ed. R.L. Tafel, London, Swedenborg Society, 1875).

The rose garden at Skansen is divided into sixteen quadrants. Twelve of the quadrants are completely square and surrounded by low, clipped box hedges. The other four are rectangular. The tea roses in the boxwood quandrants are all recent hybrid varieties, provided by a company in Germany. They are named for various famous individuals, including “Ingrid Bergman,” “Astrid Lindgren,” “Karen Blixen,” Kronprinsesse Mary,” “Marie Curie,” and even “Paul McCartney.” On the east side of the formal garden stands a bed of roses growing more freely, descendants of the original varieties planted by Walter Bauer in the 1960s. The west side of the garden is bordered by a number of lime trees (i.e. linden or basswood), and a low wall. While completely coincidental, these call to mind the “many large and fine lime trees standing in uninterrupted order” mentioned by Robsahm.  

The garden also includes four marble statues symbolizing the four elements: earth, water, air and fire. At the north side of the garden, directly opposite Swedenborg’s summerhouse, is a bronze sculpture of  Carl Linnaeus, also known as Carl von Linné (1707-1778). Often called the Father of Taxonomy, Linnaeus’s system for naming and classifying organisms is still in wide use today. The sculpture, a copy of a woodcarving by Arne Bergh, was erected in 2007 in honor of the 300th anniversary of the birth of Linnaeus. Like Swedenborg, Linnaeus saw nature as an expression of the Divine: “And now man has been created to honour his Creator: God has also manifested himself to man through revelations and what he has created: all things have a unique and wonderful form: all things are created to be of use at length to man . . . For the omniscient Creator has created nothing in vain, but for a specific purpose, or to be of service to someone . . . Everything he has created is good” (Carl Linnaeus, as quoted in Swedenborg’s Secret: A Biography, Lars Bergquist, The Swedenborg Society, London, 2005, p. 137).

Photos: All of the photographs were taken by Ed Gyllenhaal during a trip to Stockholm in July of this year. 

Further Reading:

Summerhouse of Emanuel Swedenborg

An 1896 Swedenborg Medal Commemorates the Moving of His “Summerhouse”

Swedenborg as Gardener

Questions and comments may be addressed to the editors at info@newchurchhistory.org.  

In the Great Hall are two windows designed by Winfred Hyatt, on the east and west walls above the lancet windows. On the east wall is the Rider on a White Horse:

“And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer” (Rev. 6:2). The inscription in Greek below the figures on this window reads, “Behold, a white horse.”

“In Swedenborg’s work Apocalypse Revealed this vision is explained as representing those who receive with understanding the doctrine of good and truth from the Word, and who use this to fight against evil and falsity—thus those of the Lord’s church who are crowned with victory over hell, both on earth and eternally in His heavenly kingdom. The white horse means the understanding of truth from the Word, the rider with a bow those who use this truth to combat evil, his crown a badge of combat, and his going forth the assured victory of truth over evil” (E. Bruce Glenn, Glencairn: The Story of a Home, 1990, 138).

On the west wall is the Woman Clothed with the Sun:

“Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars” (Rev. 12:1).

“In Apocalypse Revealed the spiritual meaning of this prophetic text is given: ‘A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, signifies the Lord’s New Church in the heavens, which is the New Heaven, and the Lord’s New Church about to be on earth, which is the New Jerusalem . . . The church is signified because the church is called the bride and wife of the Lord. The reason why she was seen clothed with the sun is because the church is in love to the Lord . . . The sun signifies love. The reason why the moon was seen under the woman’s feet is because the church on earth . . . is meant . . . By the moon is signified intelligence in the natural man, and faith; and by being seen under the feet is signified that it is about to be on earth . . . By a crown of twelve stars on the woman’s head is signified the wisdom and intelligence of the New Church from the knowledges of Divine good and Divine truth from the Word’” (E. Bruce Glenn, Glencairn: The Story of a Home, 1990, 138).

Another example of the Woman Clothed with the Sun is in a window in Glencairn’s Upper Hall, also designed by Winfred Hyatt.

Photos: The photographs of all three windows were taken by Barry Halkin and can be found in E. Bruce Glenn’s book, Glencairn: The Story of a Home (Bryn Athyn: Academy of the New Church, 1990).

Further Reading:

New Church Day (June 19, 1770)

Painting with Light: The Revival of Medieval Glassmaking in Bryn Athyn

The Bryn Athyn Glass Factory (1922-1942)

Reflections of Faith: Making Stained Glass Windows for Bryn Athyn Cathedral and Glencairn

Questions and comments may be addressed to the editors at info@newchurchhistory.org.  

In 1998, Rev. Dr. Jonathan Rose published a detailed study of the ornaments in Emanuel Swedenborg’s theological first editions in Covenant, a journal published by Glencairn Museum, Bryn Athyn, PA. All of the ornaments from Swedenborg’s theological first editions were reproduced in this article, organized into six categories: title page ornaments, headpieces, initials, line ornaments, asterisks, and tailpieces. The article is currently available online at NewChurchHistory.org, where all of the ornaments can be downloaded for educational purposes.

In his analysis of the ornaments, Rose discusses whether Swedenborg may have created some of them personally, and presents evidence both for and against this possibility. However, regardless of whether or not he produced the ornaments himself, Rose establishes that Swedenborg was closely involved in the publication of his works, and made detailed decisions about how his printed first editions would look.

Interest in Swedenborg’s ornaments has led to their use in a number of current New Church publications over the last decade, granting them exposure to a whole new generation of readers.

Photos: The top photograph was taken from the title page of a first edition copy of Coronis, which was formerly in the library of John Pitcairn, Bryn Athyn, PA. The book is now part of the Swedenborgiana collection of the Swedenborg Library, Bryn Athyn, PA. The other ornaments were originally scanned from Swedenborg first editions in the Swedenborg Library by Rev. Amos Glenn; all are available for download in the online version of the article published in Covenant.

Questions and comments may be addressed to the editors at info@newchurchhistory.org. 

“On this twentieth anniversary of its organization the General Church wishes to present to you this chain, as a token of its love and esteem for you. By this token you may, as long as you live, be assured that the members of this General Church have ever regarded you with the very greatest affection, and that they recognize in you a most wise and considerate leader; one who has regarded the absolute freedom and welfare of the individual, as well as of the body of the Church, as a whole, both in its organization and at all times since. . . . We sincerely hope that you may be with us yet for many years, and that your health may be such that you will feel able to preach sermons to us as in the past, which have awakened in us a profound realization of our responsibilities, and our duty to our God and to our neighbor” (”General Church Day in Bryn Athyn, PA,” New Church Life, 1917, 189). (Articles from 1917 indicate the chain alone was given on February 9, but the medallion must have followed soon after because it was present in a photograph taken in 1919 (see photo above); in addition, 1917 is engraved on the back of the medallion.

The chain and medallion are 22 carat gold, with twelve of the chain links having semi-precious stones in them. On the back of each of the links having a stone are the location names of two societies of the General Church (see photo):

1. Abington/Allentown, garnet (red)
2. Arbutus/Brussels, quartz, sand or carnelian (red)
3. Bryn Athyn/Chicago, golden topaz quartz (red)
4. Cincinnati/Colchester, purple amethyst (blue)
5. Denver/Durban, lapis lazuli (blue)
6. Erie/Glenview, light blue Ceylon sapphire (blue)
7. Kitchener/Waterloo, indicolite, blue tourmaline (blue/white)
8. London/Middleport, turquoise (blue/white)
9. New York/Paris, moonstone, blue overtone aquamarine (blue/white)
10. Philadelphia/Pittsburgh, aquamarine (white)
11. Stockholm/Sydney, opaque chalcedony quartz (white)
12. Toronto/Washington, transparent crystal quartz (white).

(This information comes from a typed Academy of the New Church Museum document dated 5/7/76.)

The medallion (see photos) features a garnet in the middle and twelve clear quartz stones around the edge. On the center of the back is engraved the date 1917. Around the edge is engraved the following: “To Bishop W. F. Pendleton on the Twentieth Anniversary of the Organization of the General Church of the New Jerusalem.”

William F. Pendleton passed away in 1927, at which time the chain and medallion became the property of his heirs. In 1940, during the General Assembly of the General Church, his heirs presented it to the acting bishop of the church at that time, Right Reverend George de Charms, along with a letter (New Church Life, 1940, 415). They wanted it to be the property of the General Church:

“Father was deeply touched by the love and affection which prompted the gift and also by its signification and its form. . . . We therefore present this gift, not only in fulfillment of the wish of both our father and our mother, but also from our hearts as an expression of our deep devotion to the General Church” (Heirs of W. F. Pendleton. Copy of letter to George de Charms. 25 March 1940).

Currently the chain and medallion are on loan to Glencairn Museum, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, from the General Church.

Photos: The photograph of William F. Pendleton wearing the medallion was taken at the dedication ceremony for Bryn Athyn Cathedral, October 5, 1919. His brother, Bishop Nathaniel D. Pendleton, is standing next to him. It is in the collection of the Academy of the New Church Archives, Swedenborg Library, Bryn Athyn, PA. The color photographs were taken by Ed Gyllenhaal. 

Questions and comments may be addressed to the editors at info@newchurchhistory.org. 

The Congress began with an opening reception on July 4 and concluded on July 8. Most of the events took place in King’s Hall, a large room in the famous Holborn restaurant (see photos). Papers and addresses on Swedenborg were given under the general categories of science, philosophy, and theology. An exhibition of Swedenborgiana, which included portraits, manuscripts, books, curios, etc., was on display at the Swedenborg Society building at 1 Bloomsbury Street in London. On Wednesday, July 6, over nine hundred members of the Congress attended a garden party (see photo, below) at Bishopswood, home of David Wynter, Swedenborg Society president. The band of the H.M. Grenadier Guards played during the afternoon (Swedenborg Society, Transactions of the International Swedenborg Congress, 1910, 209).

King Gustaf V of Sweden consented to act as Patron, and although he did not actually attend the Congress, he granted an audience with a deputation from the Swedenborg Society on November 18, 1910. The audience was arranged by Alfred Stroh, who was living and working in Sweden at the time on the phototyping of Swedenborg’s manuscripts. The group, accompanied by Stroh, consisted of James Speirs, secretary of the Society, Rev. J.R. Rendell, Rev. Arthur Wilde and James Wynter, the son of the Society president. Speirs first read a “thank you” from the Swedenborg Society written on a vellum roll, followed by the presentation of a bound copy of the Transactions containing a special dedication page for the king (”An Audience with the King of Sweden,” New Church Life 1911, 47).

A number of publications were prepared in honor of the Congress, including Opera Poetica, which gathered together Swedenborg’s poems in one volume; a facsimile version of Festivus Applausus, written by Swedenborg in 1714 to celebrate the return of Charles XII to Pomerania; and a facsimile verison of Daedalus Hyperboreas, a scientific journal published by Swedenborg.

The year 2010 marks the two hundredth anniversary of the Swedenborg Society, which has planned a number of celebratory events throughout the year. One of those events is the International Swedenborg Publishers Conference, to be held June 3-4, 2010. This seems a fitting event for the two hundredth anniversary, as one of the outcomes of the 1910 Congress was a gathering of publishers held after the formal event on July 11. “The object of the meeting was to secure, so far as possible, general co-operation in the work of publishing the Writings, in place of the wasteful duplication that has been characteristic of the past; and especially to ensure the early completion of the phototyping of the theological manuscripts of Swedenborg” (”After the Congress,” New Church Life 1910, 688). The aim of the 2010 conference is “to bring together organizations and individuals, worldwide, currently working in the field of Swedenborgian publishing. Not only do we hope that the Conference will encourage closer relations between publishers and book rooms and other sales outlets, but that it also facilitates common online and other marketing strategies and will act as a forum to discuss the future of Swedenborgian publishing” (Swedenborg Society website).

Photos: All of the photographs are from a copy of Transactions of the International Swedenborg Congress owned by John Pitcairn, now in the collection of the Glencairn Museum Archives, Bryn Athyn, PA. Pitcairn was a member of the Congress and received a bound copy with a personalized dedication page. The top photograph shows the speaker’s platform in Kings Hall. The second photograph, also taken in Kings Hall, shows the opening reception. This is followed by King Gustaf’s photograph (placed opposite the title page in the book), and the garden party that took place at David Wynter’s home.

Questions and comments may be addressed to the editors at info@newchurchhistory.org.  

No definitive record has been found to indicate when Pitcairn purchased the books, but he may have bought them in England in 1877. His diary entry for August 4, 1877 mentions a visit to Henry Wrightson, “an old bachelor born 1803. He has a passion for collecting the original Ed’s of Swedenborg. . . . He has a complete set & many volumes of the original Editions of Swedenborg” (John Pitcairn. Transcript of Diary entry. 4 August 1877). C. T. Odhner, in his biography of John Pitcairn printed in New Church Life, describes this same visit, and adds that “Mr. Pitcairn purchased from Mr. Wrightson a great number of original editions for the Academy’s library, many of them sumptuously bound” (C.T. Odhner, “John Pitcairn: A Biography,” New Church Life 1917, 518).

August Nordenskjold was introduced to Swedenborg’s writings as a young man in Stockholm, and he shared his new beliefs with his father and brother. In the 1780s he superintended Sweden’s mining operations in Finland, and was elected to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (see C.T. Odhner, “The Early History of the New Church in Sweden,” New Church Life 1911, 164). Swedenborg’s heirs had deposited his manuscripts with the Academy of Sciences after his death in 1772, and as a member of the Academy Nordenskjold had access to them. Many of the Swedenborg manuscripts were in loose sheets, and it was Nordenskjold who had them bound into codices. He arranged to have copies made of many of the manuscripts and, working together with his brother, Carl Frederick, sent copies as well as original manuscripts to London to be published (see S.C. Eby, Story of the Swedenborg Manuscripts, 1926, 24).

For many years August Nordenskjold was involved in a project supported by King Gustav III of Sweden to find the Philosopher’s Stone, the legendary substance that could turn base metals into gold. In 1999 the Nordiska Museet in Stockholm, Sweden, held an exhibition that included an alchemical stove belonging to Nordenskjold. C.T. Odhner asserts that Nordenskjold had a religious reason for his interest in this subject: “By making gold and silver common, he intended to revolutionize and regenerate society. For as the spiritual man is regenerated by the abundance of good and truth given to the New Church, so, he argued, would society be made new, and class distinctions broken down, by a new and abundant influx of silver and gold” (C.T. Odhner, “The Early History of the New Church in Sweden,” New Church Life 1911, 166).

In the final chapter of his short life, Nordenskjold, an abolitionist, was involved in a plan to establish a free colony in Sierra Leone on the west coast of Africa. He worked together with Carl Wadstrom, a fellow Swede and New Churchman, who played an important role in the British Antislavery movement. They had plans to travel together to Africa, but their joint trip never came to fruition. In 1789 Nordenskjold and some associates published A Plan for a Free Community upon the coast of Africa under the protection of Great Britain; but Intirely Independent of All European Laws and Governments. In 1792, with the backing of King Gustav III, he undertook an ill-fated expedition to Africa, where he died.

The editors of NewChurchHistory.org would like to thank Lisa Parker Adams, History and Education Coordinator at Cairnwood Estate, for alerting us to the existence of these books, and suggesting that they might be of interest to readers of New Church History Fun Facts.

Photos: The photograph of August Nordenskjold is in the public domain and is available from Wikimedia.org. The other photos were taken by Ed Gyllenhaal.

Questions and comments may be addressed to the editors at info@newchurchhistory.org.

This is a portion of a letter written by Helen Keller in the fall of 1926 to Rev. Paul Sperry, a minister in the General Convention (now The Swedenborgian Church of North America). Sperry had first heard of Helen Keller through his Sunday school teacher, John Hitz, a friend of Keller and the man who introduced her to the works of Emanuel Swedenborg. In August of 1926, Sperry had written to Keller to ask if she would consider writing a book about Swedenborg. He had to wait until October for her reply, not because she was in any way ignoring him, but because she wanted to carefully consider whether she could meet such a challenge (see The New-Church Messenger, vol. CXXXIII, No. 19, Nov. 9, 1927, 336-337). Her letter made it clear that, although she had organizational and practical difficulties to work out concerning the proposed book, she strongly believed in the project. The book was published in 1927 under the title My Religion. A typed copy of the full letter from Keller to Sperry resides in the Academy of the New Church Archives, Swedenborg Library, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania. It is reproduced below.

At the end of the letter, Keller mentions to Sperry her pleasure with “your sermon on my favorite quotation.” The Bible verse in question is Mark 4:28: “The earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.” (Sperry’s sermon can be found in The New-Church Messenger, March 10, 1926.) She also mentions a lecture on Swedenborg by Mr. Landenberger, which she describes as “a splendid summary of Swedenborg’s special teachings.” Keller may here be referring to Rev. L. G. Landenberger’s published lecture, Emanuel Swedenborg, Man of Science, Philosopher, and Theologian of the New Age.

Copy

Forest Hills, Oct. 10, 1926

“Dear Mr. Sperry:

I have been having a bad conscience about not writing to you with regard to the new book on Swedenborg which you asked me to consider preparing. At first I thought I should answer your letter within a few days, after I had decided whether I could prepare such a book or not. The more I thought of it, the more deeply interested I became in the undertaking. I began trying to clarify in my own mind my impression of Swedenborg and his works. Had I a clear conception of his personality? How could I explain to an impatient and skeptical public his extraordinary claim of having been for twenty-seven years in daily communication with the spiritual world? Did I have a sufficient grasp of his peculiar experience to present it helpfully to others? I read everything I have in raised print on Swedenborg, and then, I confess, I felt overwhelmed by the subject. I was discouraged at the idea of writing a book about a man whose life was so unique, so wonderful that anyone who studies it must become as humble as a little child. 

Yet I was reluctant to tell you I could not do it because it would be such a joy to me if I might be the instrument of bringing Swedenborg to a world that is spiritually deaf and blind. I put off from day to day writing to you with the hope that I might have something worth while to send you—a plan, at least, of a book. I have written about forty pages, approaching the subject from different angles; but I am not satisfied. I am still listening for the right word that shall dispel all darkness and confusion.

However, if there is no set time for publication, I might, with your assistance, manage to get the book together and finish it this year. You see I have no one to help me, in this particular kind of task, and of necessity I work very slowly. It takes time to look up the passages I want in my big Braille books, then it is tedious copying them, as I have to keep taking my hand off the page to write out a sentence and finding the place again. It would help me tremendously if there were some method of indicating the passages I wished to use, and you could arrange to have the copying done, also if you would be kind enough to suggest ways of constructing the book. For construction is not one of my strong points.

I had thought of beginning the book with a biographical and appreciative account of Swedenborg, followed by a long chapter on love—the sum and substance of his teachings—and short chapters on his conception of the attributes of God, of life, of happiness, immortality and correspondence or sacred symbolism, and ending with a chapter showing that Swedenborg’s message is like the rock smitten by Moses, yielding sweet streams of healing water, even an abundance of truths for those who hunger and thirst in their pilgrimage through an age of materialism and selfishness. But I am not sure that what I have in mind would meet the need of the present moment. I cannot read the books that would especially help me, and that hinders me a good deal. I am in arrears of several years with New-Church literature. I have repeatedly declined to speak or write on subjects that really interested me because I could not have read to me the current books on these matters.

Of course you are aware of the difficulties of presenting Swedenborg’s doctrines in a simple, direct and popular form, especially in this country. There is among us a distressing indifference to all things of faith, and an impatience at any effort to explain the laws of life in spiritual terms. I often meet minds so earnest and yet so helpless and plodding, it takes them half an hour to get from one idea to another of truths of the simplest nature. After I have tried to impart two or three thoughts to them, I detect a hopeless resignation in their manner, or they make frantic efforts to change the conversation. Really, Mr. Sperry, it hurts most people to ‘think.’ But I suppose we must keep prodding them one way then another until they learn to use the minds God gave them, if they are to realize greater possibilities of life.

Of one thing I am sure; any effort is worth while that brings comfort to limited, struggling human beings in a dark, self-centered age; and Swedenborg’s message has meant so much to me! It has given color and reality and unity to my thought of the life to come; it has exalted my ideas of love, truth and usefulness; it has been my strongest incitement to overcome limitations. The atmosphere Swedenborg creates absorbs me completely. His slightest phrase is significant for me. His ‘Divine Love and Wisdom’ is a fountain of life I am always happy to be near. I find in it a happy rest from the noisy insanity of the outer world with its many words of little meaning and actions of little worth. I bury my fingers in this great river of light that is higher than all stars, deeper than the silence which enfolds me. It alone is great, while all else is small, fragmentary. Were I but capable of interpreting to others one-half of the stimulating thoughts and noble sentiments that are buried in Swedenborg’s writings, I should help them more than I am ever likely to in any other way. There is a year of hard work before me; but I should like to begin it with the feeling that I had rendered my fellowmen such a spiritual service.

By the way, it has occurred to me that Mr. Landenberger’s lecture on Swedenborg would be a good model for the book you propose. What do you think, Mr. Sperry? It seems to me a splendid summary of Swedenborg’s special teachings, and I do not see why the New Church did not broadcast this lecture, so simple, illuminating and attractive, from shore to shore.

I wish I could have been with you at Haven, Maine. I hope you had a happy, restful holiday. I went south to visit my sister and her family, which partly explains my failure to answer your letter sooner.

I was much pleased to read your sermon on my favorite quotation in the ‘New Church Messenger.’ You have infinitely enriched the beauty of the text to me.

With kindest greetings, in which Mrs. Macy joins me, I am

                                                                                                                    Faithfully yours,
                                                                  Helen Keller”

Photos: The photograph (top) of Helen Keller reading braille dates to about 1907, the photograph of Helen and Anne Sullivan Macy to about 1909. Both are in the public domain, and are available from Wikimedia.org. (Copies can also be obtained from the Library of Congress.) The typed copy of Helen Keller’s letter to Rev. Paul Sperry is in the collection of the Academy of the New Church Archives, Swedenborg Library, Bryn Athyn, PA.

Further Reading:

Amazon link to My Religion (2007 edition)

Light in My Darkness (revised and edited edition of My Religion by Swedenborg Foundation)

Shining Soul: Helen Keller’s Spiritual  Life and Legacy (DVD from Swedenborg Foundation)

American Foundation for the Blind Helen Keller section

Questions and comments may be addressed to the editors at info@newchurchhistory.org.  

When this notice appeared in New Church Life in 1899, the name “Bryn Athyn” had recently been chosen for the fledgling New Church community in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The intended meaning of the name was “hill of unity”—”Bryn” being the Welsh word for “hill,” and “Athyn” meaning “cohesion” (or so the community members believed). Today, however, if you look in The University of Wales Dictionary, said to be the most comprehensive and extensive dictionary of the Welsh language, you will find the word “Bryn,” but not the word “Athyn.”

It all began in 1898, when a “Village Association” was formed to take care of the wide variety of civil affairs facing the developing New Church community. During the previous decade, hundreds of acres of farmland had been purchased by John and Gertrude Pitcairn for the purpose of founding a New Church community and school, and the new settlement needed infrastructure. It also needed a name, and on September 10, 1898, a special meeting of the Village Association was called to discuss this matter. A formal name was considered to be the first step in securing a railroad station, a telegraph office, and eventually a post office.

The process was a slow one. The search for a name went on for more than a  year, with many different suggestions proposed, including “Bonnnie Brae,” “Collyn,” “Gwynmont,” “Hillcrest,” “Manoli,” “Ridgemont,” “Rothlyn,” and even “Swedenborg.” One name, “Hillbrook,” was formally chosen in May of 1899, but when it failed to receive sufficient community support it was abandoned. Finally, on September 25, 1899, “Bryn Athyn” was chosen by the Village Association by a vote of 6 to 3 (Village Association Minutes, Swedenborg Library, Bryn Athyn, PA).

Bryn Athyn was first suggested as a possible name during an Association meeting on February 18, 1899. It was proposed by Bishop William F. Pendleton, who used An English Welsh Pronouncing Dictionary, published by William Spurrell, to look up the two Welsh words. The dictionary was purchased for him by Samuel Henry Hicks, a member of the Association who had been born in Wales and brought to the United States as an infant (see New Church Life, 1910, 51). The actual dictionary has been preserved in the Academy of the New Church Archives, Swedenborg Library, Bryn Athyn, PA. Bound together with the book is a typewritten note explaining the dictionary’s significance. Pencil marks are apparent beside the entries for “Bryn” and “Athyn” (see photos), with the entry for “Athyn” reading as follows: “Athyn a[djective], very tenacious; cohesive.”

William Spurrell, the publisher of the Welsh dictionary, believed “Athyn” to be a legitimate Welsh word. However, Athyn is now considered to be a neologism (a newly-created word), and we must go further back than Spurrell to discover its origin. The man who invented the word “Athyn” was William Owen Pughe, the author of A Dictionary of the Welsh Language, first published in 1803. Pughe, a Welsh lexicographer and grammarian, “was unable to resist the charms of the mythologists . . . so consuming was the fire of his passion for things Welsh, and he was sure that if one analysed Welsh it would yield the secrets of mankind’s primeval language. Further, if one dissected or dismantled Welsh words one could then reconstruct the language on rational lines, and extend its scope and use infinitely” (Morgan, Prys. “From a Death to a View: The Hunt for the Welsh Past in the Romantic Period.” In The Invention of Tradition, Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger eds. Cambridge University Press: 73). So it seems that William Pughe “reconstructed” the word “Athyn,” and Spurrell incorporated this word and other examples of Pughe’s neologisms into his own dictionary, a copy of which was used by the founders of Bryn Athyn in the naming of their new community.

In Through the Looking-Glass, Lewis Carroll writes, “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in a rather scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean; neither more nor less.” Perhaps it is in this spirit that we should regard the question of the meaning of “Bryn Athyn.” All matters of Welsh lexicography aside, the men who named Bryn Athyn intended the words to mean “hill of unity”—neither more nor less.

The editors of NewChurchHistory.org would like to thank the Rev. Stephen Cole for suggesting this New Church History Fun Fact, and for providing his own personal research materials for our use.

Photos: The photograph of Bryn Athyn Station (formerly Alnwick Grove Station) was taken by Camille Vinet, and is in the collection of the Academy of the New Church Archives, Swedenborg Library, Bryn Athyn, PA. In 1902 a new building was constructed directly across the tracks from the former station to serve as a combined train station and post office. The building in the photograph is now a private residence. The Welsh dictionary pictured in the photographs is the one used by William F. Pendleton. It is stored in the rare book vault of the Swedenborg Library.

Further Reading:

An online source with additional information about the Welsh origin of the name Bryn Athyn

Klein, Eldric. “The Village Community Gets a Name.” In Bryn Athyn: from these beginnings. 50th anniversary of the incorporation of the borough of Bryn Athyn, 1916-1966: 5-11

Pearce, Ruth L. “Welsh Place-Names in Southeastern Pennsylvania.” Names, vol. 11, No. I (March 1963)

Questions and comments may be addressed to the editors at info@newchurchhistory.org.