The books in this section are usually hardcover and in decent condition, though we'll sometimes offer hard-to-find books in lesser condition at a reduced price. Though we often put images of the book with their original dust jackets, the copies here won't always (or even often) have them. If that is important to you, please call ahead or say so in the order comments!
From the dust jacket:
Here, at last, is an affectionate and complete history of one of the world's celebrated churches by the man who has been its rector for the last third of a century. It is a record filled with the touching and heart-warming incidents that have made the Little Church so famous–not only in America but all over the world.
Practically everyone knows of the Little Church's fame as a center of marriages and a place of worship for theatrical personalities. Fewer people know the fascinating background of the church's founding as a sanctuary for the poor; of its magnificent help to the Underground Railroad, when it hid fugitive slaves despite rioting mobs; of its first helping hand with actors, at a time when they were regarded as outcasts by most orthodox churches; of the breadlines it maintained during the depression of the Thirties; of its courageous stand for temperance and against Prohibition.
Dr. Ray has written a record of love and warmth and charity and hospitality to be proud of, and it explains why The Little Church Around the Corner has become a landmark for people everywhere.
In his Foreword, Dr. Ray writes:
"Glancing down the other day from my study in the rectory tower, I saw a Life photographer posing a bright young fashion model against the background of our old lich-gate. This is not unusual - the outlines of our lich-gate, with its turned-up eaves and the green leaves behind it, must be familiar through pictures to thousands of people who have never been here in person. The Little Church Around the Corner is a household name. It is the church with the beautiful Bridal Altar where romantic young couples flock to get married. It is the official place of worship of hundreds of actors. It is the historic shrine where one goes to see stained-glass windows commemorating the faces of Edwin Booth, Joseph Jefferson, John Drew, Richard Mansfield; and bronze tablets to Stephen Vincent Benét, William Rose Benét, Will Rogers, O. Henry. It is the haven where runaway slaves were harbored in the days of the Civil War, and where the hungry were fed in the days of the breadlines. For the last third of a century it has been my life.
"I would like to take you inside the Little Church with me, introduce you to my predecessors, the two Dr. Houghtons, and show you how this famous place of worship grew from a back room in Love Lane one hundred years ago, to a world-famous shrine which embraces a membership flung around the earth."
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