PREFACE

Phineas Parkhurst Quimby was born in Lebanon, N. H., on February 16th, 1802.
His father Jonathan Quimby, a blacksmith by trade, moved the Quimby family to 
Belfast, Maine, in 1804.  As Phineas grew in years, his inquisitive mind explored
vast areas of interests.

P. P. Quimby was a clockmaker, silversmith, inventor with four letters of patents,
a jeweler, a daguerrian artist, merchant, philosopher, mesmerist, and finally, a
Healing Physician.  He is considered by many to be the Father or Founder of
what is now known, as the New Thought Movement.

Phineas Parkhurst Quimby gave us over a half-million words to describe his
healing science. These articles, essays, or "pieces", are now preserved in the
Manuscript Collection of the Library of Congress, and the Historical Manuscript
Collection of the Mugar Memorial Library of Boston University.

This written collection consists of:

Lecture Notes:  A collection of booklets numbered one through seven are preserved
in the Boston University collection.  The internal evidence of these booklets, would
suggest they were written some time after 1844 and prior to 1847.

Dr. Quimby's Letters to His Patients:  Although he held no formal academic
degrees, the title of Doctor was bestowed on Phineas Parkhurst Quimby by his
friends, family, and the people who came to him, seeking relief from physical ailments
and undesirable conditions.  There are approximately 70 letters to his patients, in the
Boston University collection.

P. P. Quimby's Writings:  The largest body of material is in the form of articles or
essays. "Park" as he was called by his friends and family, referred to these writings
as "pieces". These writings are preserved in both the Library of Congress and
Boston University.

From 1859 until 1865, Phineas Parkhurst Quimby operated a healing practice from
his office, which was located in the International House Hotel of Portland, Maine.
His youngest son, George Albert Quimby, worked as his clerk or secretary.
Additional secretarial duties were provided by Emma Ware and Sarah Ware,
both of which were early Portland patients of Dr. Quimby.

In a biography written for The New England Magazine,  Volume 6, Issue 33,
March, 1888, his son George tells us the first of these articles is titled, 
Mind is Spiritual Matter.  This article was written in October, 1859.

Dr. Quimby's procedure would be to make notes on scraps of paper after treating a
patient as time permitted.  Later, George, Emma or Sarah, would copy these notes
into notebooks or write them out onto larger pieces of paper.

It was Dr. Quimby's intention to organize his materials and publish them as a book.  He
wrote two introductions for this book in 1864.  These introductions are included in
chronological order of this Concordance, in Section 20.

Phineas Parkhurst Quimby passed on January 16th, 1866, at his home in Belfast, Maine,
before he was able to organize and compile his writings for publication.

In 1921, Dr. Horatio W. Dresser, a son of two of Quimby's patients, Julius A. Dresser
and Annetta Gertrude (Seabury) Dresser, edited and released, The Quimby Manuscripts,
published by the Thomas Y. Crowell Company.  While not complete, this was the first
time the major body of Dr. Quimby's writings were made available to the general public.

In 1988, Dr. Ervin Seale and a team of editors, published the complete collection of
Quimby's writings from the Library of Congress and Boston University. Titled,
Phineas Parkhurst Quimby, The Complete Writings, this three volume set is available
through most book sellers or directly from DeVorss & Company.

Additional information relating to Phineas Parkhurst Quimby can be found on the Internet
at: http://www.ppquimby.com

Wherever possible, the writings in this electronic concordance are assembled
in chronological order. They are also divided into 25 sections, to improve
computer speed and performance.

Ron Hughes - February 2003

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