Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Mary F. Wilson, The Story of the Bab: Three Versions, bahai-library.com. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── The Story of the Báb: Three Versions Mary F. Wilson published in Contemporary Review pp. 808-829 1885-12 1. About Mary F. Wilson’s “The Story of the Bab” was published in Contemporary Review in December 1885 (pp. 809-29) and republished in Littell’s Living Age, January 16, 1886 (pp. 151-63). Her source was Gobineau, the tone of her article, heroic. She presented the history of the early years of the Bábí Faith as a drama of faith and courage, and reflected in her article the emotion that Gobineau’s work inspired in so many of his European readers. Wilson described Gobineau’s book as presenting “a picture of steadfast adherence to truth (as they held it), of self-denial, of joyful constancy in the face of bitterest suffering, torture and death, as vivid and touching as any that are found in the records of the heroic days of old” (p. 808). Heroism aside, Wilson, like other nineteenth-century Christian writers, ascribed the Báb’s teachings regarding the elevation of women and tenderness to children to his adoption of some Western ideals and Christian principles. Regarding the Báb’s teachings she wrote: “Some of these innovations were probably the result of his study of European books. But the considerate kindness of all his rules for women, and his invariable tenderness in everything that concerned children, must have had a deeper source. One can hardly fail to see that in these respects he had imbibed something of the spirit of the Gospel; and the regret arises irresistibly, that where he had seen and appreciated so much, he had not grasped the whole” (p. 811). Generally, Wilson took Gobineau’s history and recast it in the style of historical fiction. She occasionally drew parallels between the suffering of the Báb and his followers and the suffering of the Christ and his followers, but she was careful to stress that the parallel was with respect to the events only. In commenting on the effect of the martyrdom of the Bábís to the spread of the Bábí Faith, she said toward the end of the article: “Whatever may be the errors and delusions of the system, it has been true in respect to it, as to a purer and more enlightened faith, that the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the Church” (pp. 828-29). (from bahai.works/World_Order/Series2/Volume_12/Issue_4/Text#pg19) 2. The Contemporary Review pp. 808-829 (complete) online at books.google.com December 1885 Download: wilson_story_bab_contemporary-review.pdf. 3. The Living Age 53:168, pp. 151–163 see at books.google.com 1886 4. The Library Magazine pp. 137-147 out of ? (missing pages 148+) online at books.google.com 1886 Download: wilson_story_bab_the-library-magazine.pdf. 5. The Eclectic Magazine of Foreign Literature, Science, and Art pp. 264-273, 275-277, 280 (missing 274, 278-279) online at books.google.com 1886-02 Download: wilson_story_bab_the-eclectic-magazine-of-foreign-literature-science-and-art.pdf. METADATA Views827 views since posted 2025-07-07; last edit 2025-07-07 03:36 UTC; previous at archive.org.../wilson_story_bab Language English Permission public domain Share Shortlink: bahai-library.com/6952 Citation: ris/6952 select Collection: Archives Articles Articles-unpublished Audio Bibliographies BIC Biographies Books Chronologies Compilations Compilations-NSA Compilations-personal Documents East-asia Encyclopedia Essays Etc Excerpts Fiction Glossaries Guardian Histories Introductory Letters Maps Music Newspapers NSA-documents NSA-letters Personal Pilgrims Poetry Presentations Resources Reviews Scripts Software Statistics Study Talks Theses Transcripts Translations UHJ-documents UHJ-letters Video Visual Writings home sitemap series chronology search: author title date tags adv. search languages inventory bibliography abbreviations links about contact RSS new