Originally published in a private edition c. 1900
FOREWORD Gerald Massey, a man of many talents, distinguished himself as a social reformer, a poet and an Egyptologist. His fame rested mainly on the six monumental volumes in which he dealt at length on the mythology and religion of Ancient Egypt, and on his poetry. Although he was a capable lecturer, the lectures were not widely circulated, and were privately printed in an obscure volume. It is timely that this valuable collection is once again presented to Massey's increasing public. Relatively little is known of Massey's career. His humble birth at Gamble Wharf, Hertfordshire, England in 1829 held scant promise for the future. His parents were illiterate--his father was a poorly paid canal boatman. His own early education was meager. Only occasionally was the young Massey able to attend the neighboring school, for which he paid one penny a week. From the age of eight he labored twelve hours a day. At first he found employment in a silk mill. When it was destroyed by fire, he worked as a straw-plaiter. Doubtless there were many such jobs until at fifteen he went to London as an errand boy. Later he was fortunate enough to become a haberdasher's clerk. It is evident that Massey improved his life at every opportunity. Not only did his positions become more responsible, but in his spare time he read literature, and was inspired to write poetry. He even composed a popular song, which was so well-received that it was exhibited in a London shop window. In passing the Editor of "The Athenaeum", London's most distinguished periodical, noticed and bought a copy. The song, "The People's Advent," caught the Editor's fancy to the extent that the composer's name--Gerald Massey--remained in his memory. A year later, his book of poetry readied for publication, Massey brought it with hope and humility to the Editor of "The Athenaeum." The Editor, recognizing the author's name as the composer of "The People's Advent," was predisposed to like the poems before reading them. He wrote a brilliant, laudatory review of the poetry. The book-sellers of London, impressed by the review ordered the book with no hesitation. In one day the first edition was sold out. i Gerald Massey became increasingly interested in Egyptology. He studied the extensive Egyptian records housed in the British Museum. He eventually taught himself to decipher the hieroglyphics. Finally after many years of study he wrote a series of scholarly works on the Religion and Mythology of Ancient Egypt. In 1881 he published in two volumes "A Book of the Beginnings," in 1883 "The Natural Genesis" followed, and finally in 1907 he published in two volumes "Ancient Egypt: The Light of the World,". Through those long years of devoted study at the British Museum, Massey enjoyed the friendship and wise counsel of Dr. Samuel Birch, an outstanding Egyptologist. He attracted a following of dedicated students, who later were privileged to assist in his research. Two of his most prominent co-workers were George St. Clair who authored "Creation Records Discovered in Egypt," and Dr. Albert Churchward, who wrote "The Origin and Evolution of the Human Race." When Massey lectured in America and Canada, he found himself surrounded with able students. Miss E. Valentia Straiton, author of "The Celestial Ship of the North," and Dr. Alvin Boyd Kuhn, who wrote extensively on comparative religion. Dr. Kuhn acknowledged that in Gerald Massey had been a great inspiration to him. In fact in his posthumous work, "A Rebirth for Christianity," Dr. Kuhn called attention to the great worth of Massey's research on Christian origins, as follows: "With brilliant scholarship and insight he pierced Egypt's enigmatic scriptology, and documented the provenance of both Old and New Testament literature from remote Egyptian sources. He forced us to ask how the four Gospels of the Christian canon could be the biography of any Messianic personality living in the first Christian century, when he traced their texts back to Egyptian documents that must have been venerable even in 3500 B.C. "We are faced with the inescapable realization that if Jesus actually lived in the flesh in the first century A.D., and if he had been able to