Russian Orthodox American Messenger, November Supplement, 1905
New York: [Russian Orthodox Church], 1905.
Softcover. Very good. 4-3/4 x 7-1/2" stapled printed wraps, pp. [351]-390, staples rusted but sound, a little rubbing to the wraps, a short tear at the spine foot, very good to near fine. An epistolary tempest. Ingram Nathaniel Washington Irvine (1849-1921), an ordained Anglican (Episcopalian) priest, in 1905, "weary of strife, filled with love and truly convinced that the Holy Orthodox Church was the truest medium of unity" (i.e., represented a purer, more Catholic path), was reordained in said church by the Archibishop Tikhon and assigned to St. Nicholas Cathedral in New York City, setting off a war of words that rivals the best of them (to quote one representative passage: "[his letter being] so vulgar, disreputable, and in all respects so absolutely untruthful... With contempt we pass it by"). No mere posturing, this: The dust-up captured the attention of the nation, and resulted over time in the adaptation of both Churches into their current forms. The supplement at hand puts forth the full text of various letters shot back and forth across the bows of the principals, although its sympathies are clearly with Irvine, who, in his new position, served directly under Hotovitzky, the publisher. The 'Russian Orthodox American Messenger' itself was first published in 1896, issued in Russian with a monthly English-language supplement, as here; its ceased publication in 1973.
Item #20296
Price: $75.00