# Is "Science and Health" by Mary Baker Eddy (credited as Mary Baker Glover) a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy (credited as Mary Baker Glover) (Christian Scientist Publishing Company, 1875) is identified by: First edition of 1,000 copies, dated 1875, with the author credited on the title page as "Mary Baker Glover" — her name before her 1877 marriage to Asa Gilbert Eddy — not "Mary Baker Eddy." The text collates to 456 pages across eight chapters (Natural Science, Imposition and Demonstration, Spirit and Matter, Creation, Prayer and Atonement, Marriage, Physiology, and Healing the Sick), bound in black patterned cloth with the title stamped in gilt on the spine.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition of 1,000 copies, dated 1875, with the author credited on the title page as "Mary Baker Glover" — her name before her 1877 marriage to Asa Gilbert Eddy — not "Mary Baker Eddy." The text collates to 456 pages across eight chapters (Natural Science, Imposition and Demonstration, Spirit and Matter, Creation, Prayer and Atonement, Marriage, Physiology, and Healing the Sick), bound in black patterned cloth with the title stamped in gilt on the spine
- Because the printer introduced numerous errors while trying to "correct" the author's wording, first-edition copies carry a separately printed errata leaf tipped in at the rear
- The subtitle "with Key to the Scriptures" does not appear on the 1875 title page at all — it was only added starting with the 1883 edition
- Publisher imprint reads Christian Scientist Publishing Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Mary Baker Eddy (credited as Mary Baker Glover) |
| Publisher | Christian Scientist Publishing Company |
| Year | 1875 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition of 1,000 copies, dated 1875, with the author credited on the title page as "Mary Baker Glover" — her name before her 1877… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition of 1,000 copies, dated 1875, with the author credited on the title page as "Mary Baker Glover" — her name before her 1877 marriage to Asa Gilbert Eddy — not "Mary Baker Eddy." The text collates to 456 pages across eight chapters (Natural Science, Imposition and Demonstration, Spirit and Matter, Creation, Prayer and Atonement, Marriage, Physiology, and Healing the Sick), bound in black patterned cloth with the title stamped in gilt on the spine. Because the printer introduced numerous errors while trying to "correct" the author's wording, first-edition copies carry a separately printed errata leaf tipped in at the rear. The subtitle "with Key to the Scriptures" does not appear on the 1875 title page at all — it was only added starting with the 1883 edition.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Eddy substantially rewrote and reorganized the book through dozens of further editions up to her death in 1910; any copy naming the author "Mary Baker Eddy" rather than "Mary Baker Glover," or carrying the now-familiar subtitle "with Key to the Scriptures" on the title page, is one of these later revised printings, not the 456-page 1875 original.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Science and Health* by Mary Baker Eddy (credited as Mary Baker Glover) a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/science-and-health
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.