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Sarah Elizabeth Titcomb

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Sarah Elizabeth Titcomb
Born(1840-06-26)June 26, 1840
DiedApril 15, 1895(1895-04-15) (aged 54)
Occupation(s)Genealogist, writer

Sarah Elizabeth Titcomb was an American genealogist and writer.

Titcomb was born in Lowell, Massachusetts. She took interest in genealogy and was the author of Early New England People (1882).[1]

Titcomb was an advocate of what was known in the 19th century as the "mind-cure".[2][3] She wrote the book Mind-Cure on a Material Basis (1885). Titcomb believed that disease could be caused and cured by imagination and the mind. According to Titcomb the success of the cure or of any kind of prayer was based on the concentration of thought and not to any underlying theology.[4][5] Her theories outlined in the book received criticism from theologians Mary Baker Eddy[6] and James Henry Wiggin.[7]

She also wrote Aryan Sun Myths: The Origin of Religions (1889), a book on comparative religion and solar myths.[8] Titcomb was a proponent of the Christ Myth theory, according to a review of her book she held the view that Jesus Christ was a personification of a solar deity.[8]

Publications

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References

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  1. ^ "Deaths". The New-England Historical and Genealogical Register. 50 (199). Boston: New-England Historic Genealogical Society: 384. July 1896.
  2. ^ M., A. (1885). "The Mind-Cure". Science. 6 (150): 543–544. Bibcode:1885Sci.....6..543M. ISSN 0036-8075. JSTOR 1761990.
  3. ^ "Mind-Cure on a Material Basis. Sarah Elizabeth Titcomb author of "Early New England People." Boston: Cupples, Upham, and Co. 1885". Journal of Mental Science. 32 (139): 409–411. October 1886. doi:10.1192/bjp.32.139.409. ISSN 0368-315X.
  4. ^ "Titcomb (Sarah E.) Mind-Cure on a Material Basis". Trübner's American and Oriental Literary Record. 7 (1): 12. 1886 – via HathiTrust. The mind-cure receives an extended examination, with the conclusion that its success is due to concentration of thought, and not to the theology of the Christian scientists.
  5. ^ "Mind-Cure on a Material Basis. By Sarah Elizabeth Titcomb. Boston: Cupples, Upham & Co. New York: Brentano Brothers. Pp. 288". Popular Science Monthly. 28 (1). Bonnier Corporation: 417. 1886 – via archive.org.
  6. ^ Eddy, Mary Baker (1897). Miscellaneous writings, 1883-1896. The Library of Congress. Boston, J. Armstrong. pp. 62–63 – via Internet Archive.
  7. ^ Pleigh, Phare (March 1886). "MIND-CURE ON A MATERIAL BASIS". The Christian Science Journal. 3 (12). Retrieved 2023-05-17.
  8. ^ a b "Aryan Sun-Myths the Origin of Religions. By Sarah E. Titcomb. With an introduction by Charles Morris. Published by the author. Sold by Estes & Lauriat, Boston". The Open Court. 4 (32): 2555. 1890-10-02. ISSN 2574-3953 – via HathiTrust.