Best Selling Books by Henry Van Dyke

Henry Jackson van Dyke Jr. (November 10, 1852 - April 10, 1933) was an American author, educator, and clergyman. Van Dyke was born on November 10, 1852, in Germantown, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Henry Jackson van Dyke Sr. (1822-1891), a prominent Brooklyn Presbyterian clergyman known in the antebellum years for his anti-abolitionist views. The family traced its roots to Jan Thomasse van Dijk, who emigrated from Holland to North America in 1652. The younger Henry van Dyke graduated from Poly Prep Country Day School in 1869, Princeton University, in 1873 and from Princeton Theological Seminary, 1877. He served as a professor of English literature at Princeton between 1899 and 1923. Among the many students whom he influenced was, notably, future celebrity travel writer Richard Halliburton (1900-1939), Editor-in-Chief, at the time, of the Princeton Pictorial. Van Dyke chaired the committee that wrote the first Presbyterian printed liturgy, The Book of Common Worship of 1906. In 1908-09 Dr. van Dyke was a lecturer at the University of Paris. By appointment of President Woodrow Wilson, a friend and former classmate of van Dyke, he became Minister to the Netherlands and Luxembourg in 1913. Shortly after his appointment, World War I threw Europe into dismay. Americans all around Europe rushed to Holland as a place of refuge. Although inexperienced as an ambassador, van Dyke conducted himself with the skill of a trained diplomat, maintaining the rights of Americans in Europe and organizing work for their relief. He later related his experiences and perceptions in the book Pro Patria (1921). Van Dyke resigned as ambassador at the beginning of December 1916 and returned to the United States. He was subsequently elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters and received many other honors. (wikipedia.org)

Henry Van Dyke was a 19th century American educator, clergyman, and writer. After graduating from the Princeton Theological Seminary he became a professor of literature at Princeton. He later became the U S minister to the Netherlands. While ambassador to the Netherlands he played a major role in helping President Wilson keep the US out of World War I. Van Dyke wrote poetry, essays and hymns. He wrote the words to the hymn Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee. The nine stories in The Blue Flower are allegories. The characters all are searching for happiness and find spiritual lessons on their journey. Stories in this collection include The blue flower - The source -- The mill -- Spy rock -- Wood-magic -- The other wise men -- A handful of clay -- The lost word -- The first Christmas-tree.

There is good browsing among the leaves of the wood and the grasses of the meadow, as every well-instructed angler knows. The bright emerald tips that break from the hemlock and the balsam like verdant flames have a pleasant savour to the tongue. The leaves of the sassafras are full of spice, and the bark of the black-birch twigs holds a fine cordial. Crinkle-root is spicy, but you must partake of it delicately, or it will bite your tongue. Spearmint and peppermint never lose their charm for the palate that still remembers the delights of youth. Wild sorrel has an agreeable, sour, shivery flavour. Even the tender stalk of a young blade of grass is a thing that can be chewed by a person of childlike mind with much contentment.

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"The Spirit of Christmas" is a short Christmas book by American author, educator, clergyman, critic and outdoorsman Henry Van Dyke, first published in 1905. It includes a short story, two essays, and two prayers for the season.