A Year of Grace
Encyclopedia
A Year of Grace is an anthology compiled by Victor Gollancz
, consisting of passages (and some pieces of music) concerning religious and spiritual life, taken from a variety of different sources.
The sources include the writings of a number of rabbis, European and American philosophers, psychologists, poets and theologians, as well as some Biblical scripture. Islam and Hinduism are represented by Rumi and Hafiz, Ramakrishna
and Kabir
, the Baghavad Gita and the Upanishads.
A Year of Grace became a Christmas bestseller in the UK and by June had sold a healthy 40,000 of 1951. In America the book was published as Man and God by Houghton and Mifflin, and was made Book of the Month Club
Choice. However, it sold much less well on other side of the Atlantic, only shifting 5,000 copies.
In his foreword, Gollancz writes that the work is a "rather polemical" approach to expressing a mood, rather than a doctrine, about God and man. It is a response to both anti-religious
humanism
and anti-humanistic
religion
. Earlier in 1950, prior to the publication of A Year of Grace, Gollancz gave lectures on religion and humanism while on a visit to Germany. He focussed on the twin dangers of anti-religious humanism, which regarded mankind as self-sufficient, and anti-humanistic religion, which gave a view of man as a "wretched, powerless, worthless sinner, miserable slave of a God conceived of as capricious and omnipotent tyrant". Religious humanism combined a belief in man's creative potential with "man as a fellow-worker with God". For Gollancz freedom was key to this line of thought. Gollancz intended the book to be read consecutively, so each passage may illuminate the other, and although he acknowledges that it is full of contradictions, he hopes the mood is consistent. Martin Buber
, the Jewish philosopher, helped revise the translations from his own Jewish Mysticism and the Legends of Baalshem. On an autobiographical note, Gollancz writes that the mood of the anthology is one that has been with him since a very small boy. In 1961 Gollancz published The New Year of Grace: an Anthology for Youth and Age, including new selections and personal commentaries.
writes he was inspired to send his book The Outsider
to Gollancz after finding a copy of A Year of Grace in a second-hand bookshop, believing that he had found a sympathetic publisher. Gollancz reacted enthusiastically to Wilson and published the book.
, the Bishop of Chichester, Lettice Cooper
, Stafford Cripps
, Daphne Du Maurier
and Dean Inge. Rose Macaulay
disliked certain inclusions, particularly those of William Blake. Overall the book received a small, but largely positive press. Gollancz often wrote to reviewers he felt had misunderstood his message, and A Year of Grace was no exception. He corrected Herbert Read
's suggestion in the New Statesman
that Gollancz was disillusioned with politics, when nothing further from the truth - rather, he wrote in a letter to the magazine, the book demonstrated that politics was an essential activity.
Jill Balcon
read extracts from A Year of Grace at Gollancz's funeral. It was chosen as the castaway's book by both Victor Gollancz, in 1961, and travel writer Colin Thubron
in 1989.
Victor Gollancz
Sir Victor Gollancz was a British publisher, socialist, and humanitarian.-Early life:Born in Maida Vale, London, he was the son of a wholesale jeweller and nephew of Rabbi Professor Sir Hermann Gollancz and Professor Sir Israel Gollancz; after being educated at St Paul's School, London and taking...
, consisting of passages (and some pieces of music) concerning religious and spiritual life, taken from a variety of different sources.
The sources include the writings of a number of rabbis, European and American philosophers, psychologists, poets and theologians, as well as some Biblical scripture. Islam and Hinduism are represented by Rumi and Hafiz, Ramakrishna
Ramakrishna
Ramakrishna , born Gadadhar Chattopadhyay , was a famous mystic of 19th-century India. His religious school of thought led to the formation of the Ramakrishna Mission by his chief disciple Swami Vivekananda – both were influential figures in the Bengali Renaissance as well as the Hindu...
and Kabir
Kabir
Kabīr was a mystic poet and saint of India, whose writings have greatly influenced the Bhakti movement...
, the Baghavad Gita and the Upanishads.
Composition and publication
Gollancz started reading for the book (which he also used in From Darkness to Light) over the winter of 1943, when recovering from a nervous breakdown he had had in June of that year, and worked on it intermittently until it was published. He wrote it over the winter of 1949, and it was published on 2 October, 1950. Gollancz gave the royalties from the book to his daughters, and felt the book would do good to the world.A Year of Grace became a Christmas bestseller in the UK and by June had sold a healthy 40,000 of 1951. In America the book was published as Man and God by Houghton and Mifflin, and was made Book of the Month Club
Book of the Month Club
The Book of the Month Club is a United States mail-order book sales club that offers a new book each month to customers.The Book of the Month Club is part of a larger company that runs many book clubs in the United States and Canada. It was formerly the flagship club of Book-of-the-Month Club, Inc...
Choice. However, it sold much less well on other side of the Atlantic, only shifting 5,000 copies.
Synopsis and polemic intent
The book is divided into five parts. The first part concerns God's Mercy and Love, A Reading of Christ, and Joy and Praise. The second part focuses on Good and Evil, Sin and Repentance, and Man, fellow-worker with God. The third part covers The Relation of Man to Man. The fourth part is broken into six sections: Acceptance, Man's Dignity and Responsibility, Activity, Integrity, Humility, and Freedom. The fifth and final part looks at The Self, Intimations, and The Many and the One.In his foreword, Gollancz writes that the work is a "rather polemical" approach to expressing a mood, rather than a doctrine, about God and man. It is a response to both anti-religious
Antireligion
Antireligion is opposition to religion. Antireligion is distinct from atheism and antitheism , although antireligionists may be atheists or antitheists...
humanism
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
and anti-humanistic
Antihumanism
Antihumanism is a term referring to a number of perspectives that are opposed to the project of philosophical anthropology...
religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
. Earlier in 1950, prior to the publication of A Year of Grace, Gollancz gave lectures on religion and humanism while on a visit to Germany. He focussed on the twin dangers of anti-religious humanism, which regarded mankind as self-sufficient, and anti-humanistic religion, which gave a view of man as a "wretched, powerless, worthless sinner, miserable slave of a God conceived of as capricious and omnipotent tyrant". Religious humanism combined a belief in man's creative potential with "man as a fellow-worker with God". For Gollancz freedom was key to this line of thought. Gollancz intended the book to be read consecutively, so each passage may illuminate the other, and although he acknowledges that it is full of contradictions, he hopes the mood is consistent. Martin Buber
Martin Buber
Martin Buber was an Austrian-born Jewish philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of religious existentialism centered on the distinction between the I-Thou relationship and the I-It relationship....
, the Jewish philosopher, helped revise the translations from his own Jewish Mysticism and the Legends of Baalshem. On an autobiographical note, Gollancz writes that the mood of the anthology is one that has been with him since a very small boy. In 1961 Gollancz published The New Year of Grace: an Anthology for Youth and Age, including new selections and personal commentaries.
Influences
Rabbi Lionel Blue has credited the selections in A Year of Grace as infecting him with spirituality 'like measles', and credits the book steering him away from an anti-religious attitude. Author Colin WilsonColin Wilson
Colin Henry Wilson is a prolific English writer who first came to prominence as a philosopher and novelist. Wilson has since written widely on true crime, mysticism and other topics. He prefers calling his philosophy new existentialism or phenomenological existentialism.- Early biography:Born and...
writes he was inspired to send his book The Outsider
The Outsider (Colin Wilson)
The Outsider is a non-fiction book by Colin Wilson first published in 1956.Through the works and lives of various artists - including H. G. Wells , Franz Kafka, Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, T. S. Eliot, Ernest Hemingway, Harley Granville-Barker , Hermann Hesse, T. E...
to Gollancz after finding a copy of A Year of Grace in a second-hand bookshop, believing that he had found a sympathetic publisher. Gollancz reacted enthusiastically to Wilson and published the book.
Reception
Plaudits for A Year of Grace came from a wide readership including Alec Vidler, the Anglican theologian, who found it compassionate and searching. Many of Gollancz's friends gave positive comments including George BellGeorge Bell (bishop)
George Kennedy Allen Bell was an Anglican theologian, Dean of Canterbury, Bishop of Chichester, member of the House of Lords and a pioneer of the Ecumenical Movement.-Early career:...
, the Bishop of Chichester, Lettice Cooper
Lettice Cooper
Lettice Ulpha Cooper, , was an English writer. She was born in Eccles, Lancashire on 3 September 1897. She began to write stories when she was seven, and studied Classics at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford graduating in 1918....
, Stafford Cripps
Stafford Cripps
Sir Richard Stafford Cripps was a British Labour politician of the first half of the 20th century. During World War II he served in a number of positions in the wartime coalition, including Ambassador to the Soviet Union and Minister of Aircraft Production...
, Daphne Du Maurier
Daphne du Maurier
Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning DBE was a British author and playwright.Many of her works have been adapted into films, including the novels Rebecca and Jamaica Inn and the short stories "The Birds" and "Don't Look Now". The first three were directed by Alfred Hitchcock.Her elder sister was...
and Dean Inge. Rose Macaulay
Rose Macaulay
Dame Emilie Rose Macaulay, DBE was an English writer. She published thirty-five books, mostly novels but also biographies and travel writing....
disliked certain inclusions, particularly those of William Blake. Overall the book received a small, but largely positive press. Gollancz often wrote to reviewers he felt had misunderstood his message, and A Year of Grace was no exception. He corrected Herbert Read
Herbert Read
Sir Herbert Edward Read, DSO, MC was an English anarchist, poet, and critic of literature and art. He was one of the earliest English writers to take notice of existentialism, and was strongly influenced by proto-existentialist thinker Max Stirner....
's suggestion in the New Statesman
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
that Gollancz was disillusioned with politics, when nothing further from the truth - rather, he wrote in a letter to the magazine, the book demonstrated that politics was an essential activity.
Jill Balcon
Jill Balcon
Jill Angela Henriette Balcon was an English film and radio actress. She made her film debut in Nicholas Nickleby , though she was best known for her stage, television, and radio work....
read extracts from A Year of Grace at Gollancz's funeral. It was chosen as the castaway's book by both Victor Gollancz, in 1961, and travel writer Colin Thubron
Colin Thubron
Colin Gerald Dryden Thubron, CBE is a British travel writer and novelist.In 2008, The Times ranked him 45th on their list of the 50 greatest postwar British writers. He is a contributor to The New York Review of Books, The Times, The Times Literary Supplement and The New York Times. His books...
in 1989.