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'''George MacDonald''' (], ] – ], ]) was a ] author, poet, and ] minister. {{Short description|Scottish writer and Christian minister (1824–1905)}}
{{Other people}}
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{{Use British English|date=August 2011}}
Though no longer a household name, his works (particularly his ]s and ] novels) have inspired deep admiration in such notables as ], ], and ].
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
] wrote that he regarded MacDonald as his "master". Picking up a copy of '']'' one day in a train station, he began to read; "a few hours later," said Lewis, "I knew I had crossed a great frontier."
{{Infobox writer
] cited '']'' as a book that had "made a difference to my whole existence".
| honorific_prefix = ]
Elizabeth Yates wrote of ''Sir Gibbie'' that "t moved me the way books did when as a child ... Now and then a book is read as a friend, and after it life is not the same ... ''Sir Gibbie'' did this to me."
| name = George MacDonald
Even ], who initially despised MacDonald, became friends with him upon their meeting for the first time, and there is some evidence that Twain was influenced by MacDonald (see links below for an article on the subject).
| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|}}
| image = George MacDonald 1860s.jpg
| caption = MacDonald in the 1860s
| pseudonym =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1824|12|10|df=y}}
| birth_place = ], ], Scotland
| death_date = {{death date and age|1905|9|18|1824|12|10|df=y}}
| death_place = ], ], England
| occupation = ] ], writer, poet, novelist
| education = ], ]
| period = 19th century
| genre = Children's literature <!-- ], ] -->
| subject =
| movement =
| notableworks = {{unbulleted list|class=nowrap| '']'' (1858) | '']'' (1863) | '']'' (1871) | '']'' (1872) | '']'' (1895)}}
| spouse = {{marriage|Louisa Powell|1851}}
| signature =
| website =
}}


'''George MacDonald''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|}} (10 December 1824 – 18 September 1905) was a Scottish author, poet and Christian ] ]. He became a pioneering figure in the field of modern ] and the mentor of fellow-writer ]. In addition to his ]s, MacDonald wrote several works of ], including several collections of ]s.
==Biography==
The man who was to inspire such feeling was born on ], ] at ], ], ]. His father, a farmer, was one of the ]s of ], and a direct descendant of one of the families that suffered in the ]. The ] of the area frequently appears in the dialogue of some of his non-fantasy novels.


==Early life==
MacDonald grew up influenced by his ], with an atmosphere of ]. But MacDonald never felt comfortable with some aspects of Calvinist doctrine; indeed, legend has it that when the doctrine of ] was first explained to him, he burst into tears (although assured that he was one of the elect). Later novels, such as ''Robert Falconer'' and ''Lilith'', show a distaste for the Calvinist idea that God's electing love is limited to some and denied to others. Especially in his Unspoken Sermons he shows a highly developed theology.
George MacDonald was born on 10 December 1824 in ], ], Scotland, to George MacDonald, manufacturer, and Helen McCay or MacKay. His father, a farmer, was descended from the ] and a direct descendant of one of the families that suffered in the ].{{sfn|Raeper|1987|pp=15-17}}<ref>For more information on this massacre, see {{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/scottishhistory/union/trails_union_glencoe.shtml|title=The Massacre of Glen Coe|last=Anon|work=Scottish History: The making of the Union|publisher=BBC|access-date=6 November 2012}} For more information on the site of the event, see {{Cite web |url=https://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/153486/ |title=Site Record for Glencoe, National Trust For Scotland Glencoe Visitor Centre |publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland}}</ref>


MacDonald grew up in an unusually literate environment: one of his maternal uncles, ], was a notable Celtic scholar, editor of the ''Gaelic Highland Dictionary'' and collector of fairy tales and Celtic ]. His paternal grandfather had supported the publication of an edition of ]'s '']'', the controversial epic poem based on the ] of ] and which contributed to the starting of European ]. MacDonald's step-uncle was a Shakespeare scholar, and his paternal cousin another Celtic academic. Both his parents were readers, his father harbouring predilections for ], ], ], Chalmers, ], and ], to quote a few, while his mother had received a classical education which included multiple languages.<ref name="Johnson2014">{{cite journal |author=Johnson, K. J. |date=2014 |title=Rooted Deep: Discovering the Literary Identity of Mythopoeic Fantacist George MacDonald |journal=Linguaculture |volume = 2 |publisher=University of Iasi Press |pages=27f | url=http://journal.linguaculture.ro/images/stories/22014/johnson.pdf}}</ref>
He took his degree at the ], and then emigrated to ], studying at ] for the Congregational ministry.


An account cited how the young George suffered lapses in health in his early years and was subject to problems with his lungs such as ], ] and even a bout of ].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Life and Times of George MacDonald|publisher=Golgotha Press|year=2011|isbn=9781621070252}}</ref> This last illness was considered a family disease and two of MacDonald's brothers, his mother, and later three of his own children died from the illness.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hutton|first=Muriel|date=1976|title=The George MacDonald Collection|journal=The Yale University Library Gazette|volume=51|issue=2|pages=74–85|jstor=40858616}}</ref> Even in his adult life, he was constantly traveling in search of purer air for his lungs.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/53954/george-macdonald|title=George MacDonald {{!}} Penguin Random House|website=www.penguinrandomhouse.com|language=en-US|access-date=2018-10-12}}</ref>
In ] he was appointed pastor of Trinity Congregational Church, ], but his sermons (preaching God's universal love and the possibility that none would, ultimately, fail to unite with God) met with little favour and his salary was cut in half. Later he was engaged in ministerial work in ]. He left that because of poor health, and after a short sojourn in ] he settled in London and taught for some time at the University of London. MacDonald was also for a time editor of ''Good Words for the Young'', and lectured successfully in the ] during ]-].


MacDonald grew up in the ], with an atmosphere of ]. However, his family was atypical, with his paternal grandfather a ]-born, fiddle-playing, Presbyterian elder; his paternal grandmother an Independent church rebel; his mother was a sister to the Gaelic-speaking radical who became moderator of the Free Church, while his step-mother, to whom he was also very close, was the daughter of a priest of the ].<ref name=Johnson2014/>
His best-known works are ''Phantastes'', '']'', '']'', and '']'', all fantasy novels, and fairy tales such as &mdash; "]", "]", and "The Wise Woman". "I write, not for children," he wrote, "but for the child-like, whether they be of five, or fifty, or seventy-five." MacDonald also published some volumes of sermons, the pulpit not having proved an unreservedly successful venue.


MacDonald graduated from the ] in 1845 with a degree in chemistry and physics.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://calms.abdn.ac.uk/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqServer=Calms&dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=%28RefNo%3D%27MS%202718%27%29|title=Archives and Manuscripts – Special Collections – University of Aberdeen|website=calms.abdn.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=10 February 2018|archive-date=16 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116091623/http://calms.abdn.ac.uk/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqServer=Calms&dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=%28RefNo%3D%27MS%202718%27%29|url-status=dead}}</ref> He spent the next several years struggling with matters of faith and deciding what to do with his life.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=A Complete Identity: The Youthful Hero in the Work of G. A. Henty and George MacDonald|last=Johnson|first=Rachel|publisher=The Lutterworth Press|year=2014|isbn=9780718893590|location=Cambridge, UK|page=43}}</ref> His son, biographer Greville MacDonald, stated that his father could have pursued a career in the medical field but he speculated that lack of money put an end to this prospect.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Doctor in the Victorian Novel: Family Practices|last=Sparks|first=Tabitha|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|year=2009|isbn=9780754668022|location=Surrey|page=50}}</ref> It was only in 1848 that MacDonald began theological training at Highbury College for the Congregational ministry.<ref name="PoemHunter">{{Free-content attribution |title=Biography of MacDonald |publisher= PoemHunter.com |documentURL=https://www.poemhunter.com/george-macdonald/biography/ |License statement URL= ] |license= CC-BY-SA 3.0}}</ref><ref name="WheatonCollege">{{cite web |title=George MacDonald |url=https://www.wheaton.edu/academics/academic-centers/wadecenter/authors/george-macdonald/ |website=Wheaton College |access-date=19 June 2018}}</ref>
MacDonald also served as a mentor to ] (real name Charles Dodgson); it was MacDonald's advice, and the enthusiastic reception of '']'' by MacDonald's three young daughters that convinced Carroll to submit ''Alice'' for publication. Carroll, one of the finest Victorian photographers, also created photographic portraits of the girls and their brother Greville.


==Early career ==
MacDonald was also friends with ] and served as a go-between in Ruskin's long courtship with ].
] from 1850.]]
MacDonald was appointed minister of ], ], in 1850,<ref name="PoemHunter" /><ref name="WheatonCollege" /> after briefly serving as a locum minister in Ireland.<ref name=":0" /> However, his sermons—which preached God's universal love and that everyone was capable of redemption—met with little favour<ref name=bbc>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/N8DKT5rH8rhHmygmpwqSl7/george-macdonald|title=BBC Two – Writing Scotland – George MacDonald|website=BBC}}</ref> and his ] was cut in half.<ref name="PoemHunter" /> In May 1853, MacDonald tendered his resignation from his pastoral duties at Arundel.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=George MacDonald: Victorian Mythmaker|last=Hein|first=Rolland|publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers|year=2014|isbn=9781625645074|location=Eugene, OR|pages=88, 123}}</ref> Later he was engaged in ministerial work in ], leaving that because of poor health.<ref name="PoemHunter" /> An account cited the role of ] in convincing MacDonald to travel to ] in 1856 with the hope that the sojourn would help turn his health around.<ref name=":1" /> When he got back, he settled in London and taught for some time at the University of London.<ref name="PoemHunter" /> MacDonald was also for a time editor of ''Good Words for the Young''.


==Writing career==
MacDonald was acquainted with most of the literary luminaries of the day; a surviving group photograph shows him with ], ], ], ], ], ], and ]. While in America he was a friend of ] and ].
{{expand section | with a sourced, scholarly summary of MacDonald's major genres and works, providing summaries of the published perspectives of others, regarding them | small = no|date=March 2017}}


MacDonald's first realistic novel '']'' was published in 1863.<ref name=bbc/>
In 1877 he was given a ] ]. He died on ], ] in Ashstead (Surrey). He was cremated and buried in ].


MacDonald is often regarded as the founding father of modern fantasy writing.<ref name=bbc/>
As hinted above, MacDonald's use of ] as a literary medium for exploring the human condition greatly influenced a generation of such notable authors as ] (who featured him as a character in '']''), ], and ]. MacDonald's non-fantasy novels, such as ''Alec Forbes'', had their influence as well; they were among the first realistic Scottish novels, and as such MacDonald has been credited with founding the "]" of Scottish writing.
His best-known works are '']'' (1858), '']'' (1872), '']'' (1868–1871), and '']'' (1895), all fantasy novels, and ] such as "]", "]", and "]". MacDonald claimed that "I write, not for children, but for the child-like, whether they be of five, or fifty, or seventy-five."<ref>{{cite book |author=MacDonald, George |year=1893 |title=A Dish of Orts: Chiefly Papers on the Imagination, and on Shakespeare |publisher=Project Gutenberg |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9393 |access-date=6 October 2016}}</ref> MacDonald also published some volumes of sermons, the pulpit not having proved an unreservedly successful venue.<ref name="PoemHunter" />


After his literary success, MacDonald went on to do a lecture tour in the United States in 1872–1873, after being invited to do so by a lecture company, the ]. On the tour, MacDonald lectured about other poets such as ], Shakespeare, and ]. He performed this lecture to great acclaim, speaking in Boston to crowds in the neighbourhood of three thousand people.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Seper |first1=Charles |title=USA Lecture Tour |url=http://georgemacdonald.info/lecture_tour.html |website=The George MacDonald Informational Web |access-date=20 June 2018}}</ref>
His son ] became a noted medical specialist, and also wrote numerous novels for children. Greville ensured that new editions of his father's works were published.

]]]

MacDonald served as a mentor to ]; it was MacDonald's advice, and the enthusiastic reception of '']'' by MacDonald's many sons and daughters, that convinced Carroll to submit ''Alice'' for publication.<ref name=reis>Reis, Richard H. (1972). ''George MacDonald'', pp. 25–34. Twayne Publishers, Inc.</ref> Carroll, one of the finest Victorian photographers, also created photographic portraits of several of the MacDonald children.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Seper |first1=Charles |title=Lewis Carroll's association with George MacDonald |url=http://georgemacdonald.info/carroll.html |website=The George MacDonald Informational Web |access-date=20 June 2018}}</ref> MacDonald was also friends with ] and served as a go-between in Ruskin's long courtship with ].<ref name=reis/> While in America he was befriended by ] and ].<ref>{{cite book |author1=Rolland Hein |author2=Frederick Buechner |author-link1=Rolland Hein |author-link2=Frederick Buechner |title=George MacDonald: Victorian Mythmaker |date=10 November 2014 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |location=Eugene |isbn=978-1625645074 |page=XVII |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5TxgBQAAQBAJ |access-date=20 June 2018}}</ref>

MacDonald's use of ] as a literary medium for exploring the human condition greatly influenced a generation of notable authors, including ], who featured him as a character in his '']''.<ref>{{cite book |author = Lindskoog, Kathryn Ann |year=2001 |title=Surprised by C. S. Lewis, George MacDonald & Dante: An Array of Original Discoveries |page=72 |publisher=Mercer University Press| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Vj6xqdnBAEC&pg=PA72 |access-date=April 21, 2014|isbn=9780865547285 }}</ref> In his introduction to his MacDonald anthology, Lewis speaks highly of MacDonald's views:
{{blockquote |This collection, as I have said, was designed not to revive MacDonald's literary reputation but to spread his religious teaching. Hence most of my extracts are taken from the three volumes of ''Unspoken Sermons''. My own debt to this book is almost as great as one man can owe to another: and nearly all serious inquirers to whom I have introduced it acknowledge that it has given them great help—sometimes indispensable help toward the very acceptance of the Christian faith.&nbsp;...

I know hardly any other writer who seems to be closer, or more continually close, to the Spirit of Christ Himself. Hence his Christ-like union of tenderness and severity. Nowhere else outside the New Testament have I found terror and comfort so intertwined. ...

In making this collection I was discharging a debt of justice. I have never concealed the fact that I regarded him as my master; indeed I fancy I have never written a book in which I did not quote from him. But it has not seemed to me that those who have received my books kindly take even now sufficient notice of the affiliation. Honesty drives me to emphasize it.<ref name="LewisAnth">{{cite book |editor=C. S. Lewis |editor-link=C. S. Lewis |date=1947 |title=George MacDonald: An Anthology}}</ref>}}

Others he influenced include ] and ].<ref name="Johnson2014" /><ref name="PoemHunter" /> MacDonald's non-fantasy novels, such as ''Alec Forbes'', had their influence as well; they were among the first realistic Scottish novels, and as such MacDonald has been credited with founding the "]" of Scottish writing.<ref>Sutherland, D. In ''The Critic'', Volumes 30–31, 15 May 1897, p. 339. Retrieved 21 April 2014.</ref>

Chesterton cited '']'' as a book that had "made a difference to my whole existence,{{sfn|Macdonald|1924|p=9}} ... in showing "how near both the best and the worst things are to us from the first ... and making all the ordinary staircases and doors and windows into magical things."{{sfn|Macdonald|1924|loc=Intro}}

==Later life==
In 1877 he was given a ] (monastic poverty/civil duty) pension.<ref>{{cite web |title=George MacDonald: Scottish novelist, clergyman and author |url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/macdonald |website=Christian Classics Ethereal Library |access-date=20 June 2018}}</ref> From 1879 he and his family lived in ],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bordighera.it/storia/approfondimenti/george_mc_donald |title=George McDonald |access-date=2012-10-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120913065509/http://www.bordighera.it/storia/approfondimenti/george_mc_donald |archive-date=13 September 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> in a place much loved by British expatriates, the ] in ], Italy, almost on the French border. In that locality there also was an ] church, All Saints, which he attended.<ref>Valerie Lester, ''Marvels: the life of Clarence Bicknell, botanist, archaeologist, artist'', Matador, 2018, pp. 57–62.</ref> Deeply enamoured of the Riviera, he spent 20 years there, writing almost half of his whole literary production, especially the ] work.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.george-macdonald.com/resources/life_outline.html |title=George MacDonald Life Outline |access-date=2012-10-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910195923/http://www.george-macdonald.com/resources/life_outline.html |archive-date=10 September 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> MacDonald founded a literary studio in that Ligurian town, naming it '']'' (Bravery House).<ref>{{cite web |author1=Skribita de Susie Bicknell |title=In Clarence's Time – George MacDonald in Bordighera |url=http://clarencebicknell.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=67:mcdonald-bordighera&catid=14&Itemid=168&lang=eo |website=clarencebicknell.com |access-date=20 June 2018}}</ref> It soon became one of the most renowned cultural centres of that period, well attended by British and Italian travellers, and by locals,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bordighera.net/107-anni-fa-oggi-moriva-a-bordighera-edmondo-de-amicis-n44770 |title=107 anni fa oggi moriva a Bordighera Edmondo De Amicis |trans-title=Edmondo De Amicis died today in Bordighera 107 years ago |website=Bordighera.net |access-date=20 June 2018 |date=11 March 2011 |language=it}}</ref> with presentations of classic plays and readings of ] and ] often being held.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.george-macdonald.com/resources/bordighera_visit.html |title=Bordighera, A Record of a Visit (1997) |access-date=2012-10-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120912125458/http://www.george-macdonald.com/resources/bordighera_visit.html |archive-date=12 September 2012 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

In 1900 he moved into St George's Wood, ], a house designed for him by his son, Robert, its building overseen by his eldest son, ].<ref name="Hein2014">{{cite book |author1=Rolland Hein |author2=Frederick Buechner |author-link1=Rolland Hein |author-link2=Frederick Buechner |title=George MacDonald: Victorian Mythmaker |date=10 November 2014 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |location=Eugene |isbn=978-1625645074 |pages=398–399 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5TxgBQAAQBAJ |access-date=20 June 2018}}</ref>

George MacDonald died on 18 September 1905 in ], Surrey, England.<ref name="Hein2014" /> He was cremated in ], Surrey, and his ashes were buried in ], in the English cemetery, along with his wife Louisa and daughters Lilia and Grace.<ref name="Hein2014" />

==Personal life ==
{{expand section |with source-based information on the whole of his family, spouse, and children, and other standard aspects of personal life |small=no |date=March 2017}}
MacDonald married Louisa Powell in Hackney in 1851, with whom he raised a family of eleven children: Lilia Scott (1852–1891), Mary Josephine (1853–1878), Caroline Grace (1854–1884), Greville Matheson (1856–1944), Irene (1857–1939), Winifred Louise (1858–1946), Ronald (1860–1933), Robert Falconer (1862–1913), Maurice (1864–1879), Bernard Powell (1865–1928), and George Mackay (1867–1909).

His son ] became a noted medical specialist, a pioneer of the Peasant Arts movement, wrote numerous fairy tales for children, and ensured that new editions of his father's works were published.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://legacy.lib.utexas.edu/taro/uthrc/00082/hrc-00082.html|title=Greville MacDonald: An Inventory of His Papers at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center|first=Greville|last=MacDonald|website=legacy.lib.utexas.edu}}</ref> Another son, Ronald, became a novelist.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w0pLAAAAMAAJ&q=ronald+macdonald+++constance+robertson&pg=PA1116|title=Who's who: An Annual Biographical Dictionary|date=1 July 1907|publisher=A. & C. Black|via=Google Books}}</ref> His daughter Mary was engaged to the artist ] until her death in 1878. Ronald's son, ] (George MacDonald's grandson), became a Hollywood screenwriter.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ehkcZFT8fMoC&q=Philip+MacDonald+screenwriter&pg=PA56|title=The Espionage Filmography: United States Releases, 1898 through 1999|first=Paul|last=Mavis|date=8 June 2015|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476604275|via=Google Books}}</ref>

Tuberculosis caused the death of several family members, including Lilia, Mary Josephine, Grace, and Maurice, as well as one granddaughter and a daughter-in-law.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Profiles of English Writers: Volume Three of Three|last=Golgotha Press|publisher=Golgotha Press|year=2013|isbn=9781621076070|location=Hustonville, KY}}</ref> MacDonald was said to have been particularly affected by the death of Lilia, his eldest.

There is a blue plaque on his home at 20 Albert Street, Camden, London.<ref>{{cite web| title=George MacDonald| website=English Heritage | url=https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/george-macdonald/ | access-date=19 January 2024}}</ref>


==Theology== ==Theology==
{{Multiple issues|section=yes|
MacDonald rejected the doctrine of penal ] as put forward by ] which argues that Christ has taken the place of sinners and is punished by God in their place, believing that in turn it raised serious questions about the character and nature of God. Instead, he taught that Christ had come to save people from their sins, and not from a Divine penalty for their sins. The problem was not the need to appease a wrathful God but the disease of cosmic evil itself. George MacDonald frequently described the ] in terms similar to the ] theory, stating, for example, that the Lord "foil and sl evil by letting all the waves and billows of its horrid sea break upon him, go over him, and die without rebound—spend their rage, fall defeated, and cease."
{{Original research section|date=August 2016}}
{{more citations needed section|date=March 2017}}
}}
According to biographer William Raeper, MacDonald's theology "celebrated the rediscovery of God as Father, and sought to encourage an intuitive response to God and Christ through quickening his readers' spirits in their reading of the Bible and their perception of nature."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.george-macdonald.com/resources1/theology.html|title=George MacDonald's Theology|website=The George MacDonald WWW Page|access-date=30 December 2020|archive-date=13 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220113160040/http://george-macdonald.com/resources1/theology.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>


MacDonald's oft-mentioned ] is not the idea that everyone will automatically be saved, but is closer to ] in the view that all will ultimately repent and be restored to God.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.touchstonemag.com/archives/article.php?id=12-04-015-v|title=An Orthodox Appreciation of George MacDonald|website=Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity}}</ref>
MacDonald was convinced that God does not punish except to amend, and that the sole end of His greatest anger is the amelioration of the guilty. As the doctor uses fire and steel in certain deep-seated diseases, so God may use hell-fire if necessary to heal the hardened sinner. MacDonald declared, "I believe that no hell will be lacking which would help the just mercy of God to redeem his children." MacDonald posed the rhetorical question, "When we say that God is Love, do we teach men that their fear of Him is groundless?" He replied, "No. As much as they fear will come upon them, possibly far more. . . . The wrath will consume what they ''call'' themselves; so that the selves God made shall appear."


MacDonald appears to have never felt comfortable with some aspects of Calvinist doctrine, feeling that its principles were inherently "unfair";<ref name=reis/> when the doctrine of ] was first explained to him, he burst into tears (although assured that he was one of the ]).{{citation needed|date=March 2017}} Later novels, such as ''Robert Falconer'' and '']'', show a distaste for the idea that God's electing love is limited to some and denied to others.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}
However, true repentance, in the sense of freely chosen moral growth, is essential to this process, and, in MacDonald's optimistic view, inevitable for all beings. He recognized the theoretical possibility that, bathed in the ] divine light, some might perceive right and wrong for what they are but still refuse to be transfigured by operation of God's fires of love, but he did not think this likely.


Chesterton noted that only a man who had "escaped" Calvinism could say that God is easy to please and hard to satisfy.{{clarify|date=June 2021}}{{sfn|Macdonald|1924|loc=Intro}}
In this theology of divine punishment, MacDonald stands in agreement with the Greek ] St. ], ], and St. ], although it is unknown whether MacDonald had a working familiarity with ] or ]. At least an indirect influence is likely, because ] who influenced MacDonald knew the Greek Fathers, especially Clement, very well.


MacDonald rejected the doctrine of ]ary atonement as developed by ], which argues that Christ has taken the place of sinners and is punished by the wrath of God in their place, believing that in turn it raised serious questions about the character and nature of God.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.online-literature.com/george-macdonald/unspoken-sermons/31/ | title=Unspoken Sermons by George MacDonald: Justice }}</ref> Instead, he taught that Christ had come to save people from their sins, and not from a Divine penalty for their sins: the problem was not the need to appease a wrathful God, but the disease of cosmic evil itself.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}} MacDonald frequently described the ] in terms similar to the ] theory.{{clarify|date=March 2017}}{{citation needed|date=March 2017}} MacDonald posed the rhetorical question, "Did he not foil and slay evil by letting all the waves and billows of its horrid sea break upon him, go over him, and die without rebound—spend their rage, fall defeated, and cease? Verily, he made atonement!"<ref>{{cite book |last1=Phillips |first1=Michael R. |year=1987 |title=George MacDonald: Scotland's Beloved Storyteller |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TobyAAAAMAAJ&q=%22their+rage+fall+defeated%22 |location=Minneapolis |publisher=Bethany House |page=209 |isbn=978-0871239440 |access-date=14 September 2017}}</ref>
In ]'s introduction to Lewis's book, '']'', Lewis speaks highly of MacDonald's theology:<blockquote>"This collection, as I have said, was designed not to revive MacDonald's literary reputation but to spread his religious teaching. Hence most of my extracts are taken from the three volumes of ''Unspoken Sermons''. My own debt to this book is almost as great as one man can owe to another: and nearly all serious inquirers to whom I have introduced it acknowledge that it has given them great help-sometimes indispensable help toward the very acceptance of the Christian faith.
. . .
I know hardly any other writer who seems to be closer, or more continually close, to the Spirit of Christ Himself. Hence his Christ-like union of tenderness and severity. Nowhere else outside the New Testament have I found terror and comfort so intertwined.
. . .
In making this collection I was discharging a debt of justice. I have never concealed the fact that I regarded him as my master; indeed I fancy I have never written a book in which I did not quote from him. But it has not seemed to me that those who have received my books kindly take even now sufficient notice of the affiliation. Honesty drives me to emphasize it."</blockquote>


]
==In pop culture==
Rock group ] titled their album '']'' after a passage in MacDonald's ''Phantastes''. They also based the song ''A Church Not Made With Hands'' on one of the Narnia stories, confirming the enduring link in modern pop culture between Macdonald and Lewis. The works '']'' and '']'' are both name checked in the title track of the album, '']''.


MacDonald was convinced that God does not punish except to amend, and that the sole end of His greatest anger is the amelioration of the guilty.<ref>{{cite book | author = Yamaguchi, Miho | year = 2007 | title = George MacDonald's Challenging Theology of the Atonement, Suffering, and Death | page = 27 | publisher = Wheatmark | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=b_0ot9LcC5EC&pg=PA27 | access-date = 15 March 2017| isbn = 9781587367984 }}</ref> As the doctor uses fire and steel in certain deep-seated diseases, so God may use hell-fire if necessary to heal the hardened sinner. MacDonald declared, "I believe that no hell will be lacking which would help the just mercy of God to redeem his children."<ref>{{cite book | author = Johnson, Joseph | year = 1906 | title =George MacDonald: A Biographical and Critical Appreciation | page = | publisher = Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, Ltd. | url = https://archive.org/details/georgemacdonaldb00johnuoft | access-date = 15 March 2017}}</ref> MacDonald posed the rhetorical question, "When we say that God is Love, do we teach men that their fear of Him is groundless?" He replied, "No. As much as they were will come upon them, possibly far more.&nbsp;... The wrath will consume what they ''call'' themselves; so that the selves God made shall appear."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Phillips |first1=Michael R. |year=1987 |title=George MacDonald: Scotland's Beloved Storyteller |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TobyAAAAMAAJ&q=%22wrath+will+consume%22 |location=Minneapolis |publisher=Bethany House |page=202 |isbn=978-0871239440 |access-date=14 September 2017 }}</ref>
==Partial list of works==

* '']'' (1856)
However, true repentance, in the sense of freely chosen moral growth, is essential to this process, and, in MacDonald's optimistic view, inevitable for all beings (see ]).{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}
* ''Poems'' (1857)

* '']'' (1858)
MacDonald states his theological views most distinctly in the sermon "Justice", found in the third volume of ''Unspoken Sermons''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/macdonald/unspoken3.viii.html |title=Sermon "Justice", at ''Unspoken Sermons Third Series'' |publisher=Christian Classics Ethereal Library |access-date=19 June 2018}}</ref>
* '']'' (1862)

* '']'' (1865)
==Catalogue==
* '']'' (1866)
{{cleanup | section | reason=this listing of published works is not remotely adequate in each entry's completeness, and is not entirely internally consistent in style; lacking sources for the lists, they must contain complete entries to allow reader followup and editor verification |date=March 2017}}
* '']'' (1867)

* ''Robert Falconer'' (1868)
The following is an incomplete list of MacDonald's published works in the genre now referred to as fantasy:{{according to whom|date=March 2017}}
* '']'' (1868)

* '']'' (1871)
===Fantasy===
* '']'' (1872)
* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=Phantastes: A faerie romance for men and women |date=1858 |publisher=Smith, Elder & Co. |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/phantastesfaerie00macd/page/4/mode/2up|ref=none}}
* '']'' (1872)
* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=Cross purposes and other stories |date=1902 |publisher=London Chatto & Windus |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/crosspurposesoth00macduoft/page/n3/mode/2up?view=theater|orig-year=1862|ref=none}}
* '']'' (1873)
* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=The portent : a story of the inner vision of the Highlanders, commonly called the second sight |date=1872 |publisher=Loring |location=Boston |url=https://archive.org/details/portentstoryofin00macduoft/page/n5/mode/2up|orig-year=1864|ref=none}}
* ''Malcolm'' (1875)
* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=Dealings with the fairies |date=1867 |publisher=Alexander Strahan |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/dealingswithfair00macd_0/page/n5/mode/2up?view=theater|ref=none}}, containing "]", "]", "The Shadows", and other short stories
* '']'' (1875)
* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=At the back of the North Wind |date=1909 |orig-year=1871 |publisher=J.B. Lippincott Company |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/atbackofnorthwin00macd_2/page/n9/mode/2up|ref=none}}
* '']'' (1877)
*''Works of Fancy and Imagination'' (1871) The complete works of MacDonald collected in 10 volumes:
* '']'' (1879)
::* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=Within and Without and A Hidden Life |date=1871 |publisher=Strahan and Co |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/worksoffancyimag01macduoft/page/n5/mode/2up?view=theater|volume=1|ref=none}}
* '']'' (1883)
::* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title= Poems, The Gospel Women, Sonnets, and Organ Songs |date=1871 |publisher=Strahan and Co |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/worksoffancyimag01macduoft/page/n5/mode/2up?view=theater|volume=2|ref=none}}
* ''] '' (1883, sequel to ' ] ')
::* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=Violin Songs; Songs of Days and Nights; A Book of Dreams; Roadside Poems and Poems for Children |date=1871 |publisher=Strahan and Co |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/worksoffancyimag03macduoft|volume=3|ref=none}}
* '']'' (1895)
::* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=Parables; Ballads plus Scotch Songs and Ballads |date=1871 |publisher=Strahan and Co |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/worksoffancyimag04macduoft/page/n3/mode/2up|volume=4|ref=none}}
::* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=Phantastes|date=1871 |publisher=Strahan and Co |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/worksfancyandim04macdgoog/page/n4/mode/2up|volume=5|ref=none}}
::* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=Phantastes, A Faerie Romance |date=1871 |publisher=Strahan and Co |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/worksfancyandim05macdgoog/page/n4/mode/2up|volume=6|ref=none}}
::* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=The Portent; |date=1871 |publisher=Strahan and Co |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/worksoffancyimag07macduoft/page/n5/mode/2up|volume=7|ref=none}}
::* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=The Light Princess; The Giant's Heart and The Shadows |date=1871 |publisher=Strahan and Co |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/worksoffancyimag08macduoft/page/n5/mode/2up|volume=8|ref=none}}
::* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=Cross Purposes; The Golden Key; The Carasoyn and Little Daylight|date=1871 |publisher=Strahan and Co |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/worksoffancyimag09macduoft/worksoffancyimag09macduoft.pdf|volume=9|ref=none}}
::* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=The Cruel Painter; The Castle; The Wow o' Rivven; The Broken Swords; The Gray Wolf and Uncle Cornelius His Story. |date=1871 |url=https://archive.org/details/worksoffancyimag10macduoft/page/n5/mode/2up|publisher=Strahan and Co |location=London |volume=10|ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=The princess and the goblin |date=1911 |publisher=Blackie and Son |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/princessgoblin00macd2|orig-year=1872|ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=The Wise Woman: A Parable |date=1875 |publisher=Strahan and Co |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/wisewomanparable00macdiala/wisewomanparable00macdiala/|ref=none}} (Published also as "The Lost Princess: A Double Story"; or as "A Double Story".)
* Multiple versions with different content of ''The Light Princess and other Stories''
*''The Gifts of the Child Christ and Other Tales'' (1882; republished as ''Stephen Archer and Other Tales'') 1908 edition by Edwin Dalton, London was illustrated by ] and ].
::* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=The gifts of the child Christ : and other tales |date=1882 |publisher=Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/giftschildchris02macdgoog/page/n3/mode/2up|volume=I|oclc=779254726|ref=none}}
::* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=The gifts of the child Christ : and other tales |date=1882 |publisher=Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/giftschildchris00macdgoog/page/n4/mode/2up|volume=II|oclc=779254726|ref=none}}

*'']'' (1882)
* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=The princess and Curdie |date=1883 |publisher=J. B. Lippincott |location=Philadelphia |url=https://archive.org/details/princesscurdie00macdiala/page/n7/mode/2up|oclc=1050812999|ref=none}}, a sequel to ''The Princess and the Goblin''
* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=Lilith A romance |orig-year=1895 |date=1896 |publisher=Chatto and Windus |location=London |edition=2nd |url=https://archive.org/details/lilithromance00macduoft/|ref=none}}

===Fiction===
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*'']'' (1863; republished in edited form as ''The Tutor's First Love''), originally published in three volumes
*''Adela Cathcart'' (1864); contains many fantasy stories told by the characters within the larger story, including "]", "]".
*'']'' (1865; edited by ] and republished as ''The Maiden's Bequest;'' edited to children's version by ] and republished as ''Alec Forbes and His Friend Annie'')
*''Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood'' (1867)
*''Guild Court: A London Story'' (1868; republished in edited form as ''The Prodigal Apprentice''). 1908 edition by Edwin Dalton, London was illustrated by ]. Available online at ].<ref name=Guild-Book>{{cite book
|last1=Macdonald
|first1=George
|title=Guild Court, A London Story
|date=1908
|publisher=Edwin Dalton
|location=London
|hdl=2027/uc1.31210010290201
|url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.31210010290201
|access-date=2020-08-09
|via=The ] (access may be limited outside the United States) }}</ref>
*''Robert Falconer'' (1868; republished in edited form as ''The Musician's Quest'')
*''The Seaboard Parish'' (1869), a sequel to ''Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood''
*'']'' (republished in edited form as ''The Boyhood of Ranald Bannerman'') (1871)
* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=Wilfred Cumbermede |date=1872 |publisher=Strahan and Co |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/worksgeo36macdiala/page/n9/mode/2up|ref=none}}
*''The Vicar's Daughter'' (1871<!--72-->), a sequel to ''Annals of a Quiet Neighborhood'' and ''The Seaboard Parish''. 1908 edition by Sampson Low and Company, London was illustrated by ] and ].
*''The History of Gutta Percha Willie, the Working Genius'' (1873; republished in edited form as ''The Genius of Willie MacMichael''), usually called simply ''Gutta Percha Willie''
*'']'' (1875)
*''St. George and St. Michael'' (1876; edited by Dan Hamilton and republished as ''The Last Castle'')
*''Thomas Wingfold, Curate'' (1876; republished in edited form as ''The Curate's Awakening'')
*'']'' (1877; republished in edited form as ''The Marquis' Secret''), the second book of ''Malcolm''
* ] (1879): {{cite book | author = <!--MacDonald, George--> | author-link = George MacDonald | date = 1879 | title = Sir Gibbie, Volume 1 | series = <!--Collection of British Authors--> | location = London | publisher =] | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=weUBAAAAQAAJ | access-date = <!--15 March 2017--> }} With simultaneous publication of and , each of ''ca.'' 300 pages. Also issued by Lippincott in America in a single volume set in two columns in smaller font, in 210 pages, {{cite book | author = <!--MacDonald, George--> | author-link = George MacDonald | date = 1879 | title = Sir Gibbie: A Novel | location = Philadelphia, PA | publisher = ] | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=o8gUAAAAYAAJ | access-date = <!--15 March 2017--> }} The entirety of the original text is available with a Broad Scots glossary by its digitizer, John Bechard, see {{cite book | url=http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2370?msg=welcome_stranger | title=Sir Gibbie | author= <!--MacDonald, George-->|date=1879|access-date=<!--15 March 2017-->|via= Gutenberg.org}} Republished in edited form as {{cite book | author = MacDonald, George | date = 1990 | editor = Phillips, Michael R. | title = Wee Sir Gibbie of the Highlands | series = George MacDonald Classics | publisher =Bethany House | isbn = 978-1556611391 | url = https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1556611390 | access-date = <!--15 March 2017--> }} Also as ''The Baronet's Song''.{{clarify|date=March 2017}}{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}
*''Paul Faber, Surgeon'' (1879; republished in edited form as ''The Lady's Confession''), a sequel to ''Thomas Wingfold, Curate''
*'']'' (1881; republished in edited form as ''A Daughter's Devotion'' and ''The Shopkeeper's Daughter'')
*''Warlock o' Glenwarlock'' (1881; republished in edited form as ''Castle Warlock'' and ''The Laird's Inheritance'')
*''Weighed and Wanting'' (1882; republished in edited form as ''A Gentlewoman's Choice'')
*'']'' (1883; republished in edited form as ''The Shepherd's Castle''), a sequel to ''Sir Gibbie''
*''What's Mine's Mine'' (1886; republished in edited form as ''The Highlander's Last Song'')
*''Home Again: A Tale'' (1887; republished in edited form as ''The Poet's Homecoming'')
*'']'' (1888; republished in edited form as ''The Landlady's Master'')
*''A Rough Shaking'' (1891; republished in edited form as ''The Wanderings of Clare Skymer'')
*''There and Back'' (1891; republished in edited form as ''The Baron's Apprenticeship''), a sequel to ''Thomas Wingfold, Curate'' and ''Paul Faber, Surgeon''
*''The Flight of the Shadow'' (1891)
*''Heather and Snow'' (1893)
:* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=Heather and Snow |date=1893 |publisher=Chatto and Windus |location=Piccadilly, London |url=https://archive.org/details/heathersnownovel01macd/page/n9/mode/2up|volume=I|ref=none}}
:* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=Heather and Snow |date=1893 |publisher=Chatto and Windus |location=Piccadilly, London |url=https://archive.org/details/heathersnownovel02macd/page/n9/mode/2up|volume=II|ref=none}}
::* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=The peasant girl's dream |date=1988 |publisher=Bethany House Publishers |location=Minneapolis |isbn=1556610238 |url=https://archive.org/details/peasantgirlsdrea00macd/page/n3/mode/2up|ref=none}} (republished in edited form in 1988)
* ''Salted with fire''
:* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=Salted with fire |date=1900 |publisher=Hurst and Blackett Limited |location=London |edition=New|url=https://archive.org/details/saltedwithfire00macd/|orig-date=1897|ref=none}}
::* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=The minister's restoration |url=https://archive.org/details/ministersrestora0000macd/ |date=1 March 1988 |publisher=Bethany House Publishers |location=Minneapolis |isbn=978-0871239051|ref=none}} (republished in edited form in 1988)
*''Far Above Rubies'' (1898)
{{div col end}}

===Poetry===
The following is a list of MacDonald's published poetic works:
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*''Twelve of the Spiritual Songs of Novalis'' (1851), privately printed translation of the poetry of ]
* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=Within and Without: A Dramatic Poem |date=1872 |publisher=Scribner, Armstrong and Company |location=New York |pages=6–223 |url=https://archive.org/details/dramaticmiscella00macdrich|volume=I|orig-date=1855|ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George| year = 1857 | title = Poems | publisher = Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, & Roberts|location=London|url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_N7tfAAAAMAAJ|ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=A Hidden Life and Other Poems |date=1864 |publisher=Spottiswoode and Co |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/hiddenlifeandoth00macduoft|ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=The disciple, and other poems |date=1868 |publisher=Chatto and Windus |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/discipl00macd/page/n5/mode/2up|oclc=697720157|orig-date=1867|ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=Exotics : a translation of the spiritual songs of Novalis, the hymn-book of Luther, and other poems from the German and Italian |date=1876 |publisher=Strahan and Co, Publishers |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/exotics00maco|ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=Dramatic and miscellaneous poems |date=1872 |publisher=Scribner, Amstrong and Company |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/dramaticmiscella00macdrich/page/n3/mode/2up|oclc=609594060|ref=none}}
::* Volume I:''Within and Without'' pp 1-219
::* Volume II:''The Hiden Life and Other Poems'' pp 221-509
* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=A Book of Strife, in the Form of the Diary of an old Soul |date=1892 |orig-date=1880 |publisher=Longmans, Green and Co |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/bookofstrifeinfo00macd|ref=none}} Original privately printed
*{{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |last2=Matheson |first2=Greville |last3=Macdonald |first3=John Hill |editor1-last=MacDonald |editor1-first=George |title=A threefold cord : poems by three friends |date=1883 |publisher=W Hughes |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/threefoldcordpoe00macd/page/n3/mode/2up}|oclc=4118583|ref=none}} privately printed, with Greville Matheson and John Hill MacDonald
* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George | year = 1887 | title = Poems | location = New York | publisher = E. P. Dutton | url = https://archive.org/details/poemsbygeorgemac00macduoft|ref=none}}
*''The Poetical Works of George MacDonald, 2 Volumes'' (1893)
* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=Scotch songs and ballads |date=1893 |publisher=John Rae Smith |location=Aberdeen |url=https://archive.org/details/scotchsongsballa00macduoft/page/n7/mode/2up|oclc=17495112|ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |title=Rampolli, growths from a long-planted root |date=1897 |publisher=Longmans, Greens and Co |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/rampolli00macd/page/n5/mode/2up|oclc=6436162|ref=none}}
{{div col end}}

===Nonfiction===
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
The following is a list of MacDonald's published works of non-fiction:{{according to whom|date=March 2017}}
*''Unspoken Sermons'' (1867)
*''England's Antiphon'' (1868, 1874)
*''The Miracles of Our Lord'' (1870)
*''Cheerful Words from the Writing of George MacDonald'' (1880), compiled by E. E. Brown
*''Orts: Chiefly Papers on the Imagination, and on Shakespeare'' (1882)
*"Preface" (1884) to '']'' (1866) by ]
*''The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: A Study With the Text of the Folio of 1623'' (1885)
*''Unspoken Sermons, Second Series'' (1885)
*''Unspoken Sermons, Third Series'' (1889)
*''A Cabinet of Gems, Cut and Polished by Sir Philip Sidney; Now, for the More Radiance, Presented Without Their Setting by George MacDonald'' (1891)
*''The Hope of the Gospel'' (1892)
*''A Dish of Orts'' (1893)
*''Beautiful Thoughts from George MacDonald'' (1894), compiled by Elizabeth Dougall
{{div col end}}

==See also==
* ]
* ]
* ]

==References==
===Footnotes===
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

===Bibliography===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last1=Johnson |first1=Joseph |title=George MacDonald: A Biographical and Critical Appreciation |date=1906 |publisher=Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons |location=London |edition=1st |url=https://archive.org/details/georgemacdonaldb00john|oclc=1349771}}
* {{cite book |last1= Macdonald |first1= Greville |title= George Macdonald and his wife |date=1924 |publisher=George Allen and Unwin |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/georgemacdonaldh0000macd |oclc=144032548}}
* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=Ronald |title=From a northern window : a personal remembrance of George MacDonald |date=1989 |publisher=Sunrise Books |location=Eureka, California |isbn=9780940652330|oclc=21023229}}
* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |last2=Sadler |first2=Glenn Edward |title=An expression of character:the letters of George MacDonald |date=1994 |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co |location=Grand Rapids, Michigan |isbn=9780802804990}}
* {{cite book |last1=Phillips |first1=Michael |title=George macdonald a writer's life |date=2019 |publisher=Rosetta Books |location=New York |isbn=9780795352737|oclc=1201196629|volume=38|series=Cullen Collection}}
* {{cite book |last1=Raeper |first1=William |title=George MacDonald |date=1987 |publisher=Lion Pub |location=Tring, Herts, England|isbn=9780745911236 |edition=1st
|url=https://archive.org/details/georgemacdonald0000raep_w5j7|oclc=15856201}}
* {{cite book |last1=Reis |first1=Richard H |title=George MacDonald |url=https://archive.org/details/georgemacdonald0119reis |date=1972 |publisher=Twayne Publishers |location=New York|oclc=615696}}
* {{cite book |last1=Wolff |first1=Robert Lee |title=Golden Key a Study of the Fiction Of George Macdonald |date=1961 |publisher=Yale University press |location=New Haven|url=https://archive.org/details/goldenkeystudyo00wolf|oclc=361159}}

{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last1=Ankeny |first1=Rebecca Thomas |title=The story, the teller, and the audience in George MacDonald's fiction |date=2000 |publisher=Edwin Mellen Press |location=Lewiston, N.Y |isbn=9780773477285|series=Studies in British literature|volume=44}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Gerold |first1=Thomas |title=Die Gotteskindschaft des Menschen Die theologische Anthropologie bei George MacDonald |journal=Studien zur systematischen Theologie und Ethik |date=2006 |volume=47 |publisher=Lit Verlag |location=Münster |language=de}}
* . St. Norbert College. Wisconsin. {{issn|0265-7295}}
* {{cite book |last1=Gray |first1=W. |editor1-last=Hogan |editor1-first=A. |editor2-last=Bradstock |editor2-first=A. |title=Women of Faith in Victorian Culture |date=1998 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=London |isbn=978-1-349-26751-4 |language=en |chapter=The Angel in the House of Death: Gender and Identity in George MacDonald’s Lilith}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Gray |first1=William N. |title=George MacDonald, Julia Kristeva, and the Black Sun |journal=Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 |date=1996 |volume=36 |issue=4 |pages=877–893 |doi=10.2307/450980 |issn=0039-3657|jstor=450980}}
* {{cite book |last1=Hein |first1=Rolland |title=George MacDonald : Victorian mythmaker |date=1993 |publisher=Star Song Publishing Group |location=Nashville |isbn=9781562330460|oclc=28027567}}
* {{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=C. S. |title=Surprised by joy: the shape of my early life ; The four loves |date=2011 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |location=Boston |isbn=9780547599397|oclc=694830039}}
* {{cite book |last1=Manlove |first1=Colin |url=https://doi.org/10.57132/book17 |title=Scotland's Forgotten Treasure: the Visionary Romances of George MacDonald |date=2016 |publisher=Aberdeen University Press |location=Aberdeen |isbn=978-1-85752-056-9 |oclc=1048766002}}
* {{cite book |last1=McGillis |first1=Roderick |title=For the childlike: George MacDonald's fantasies for children |date=1992 |publisher=Children's Literature Association ; Scarecrow Press |location=West Lafayette, Indiana : Metuchen, N.J |isbn=9780810824591|oclc=25630114}}
* {{cite book |last1=MacDonald |first1=George |last2=Neuhouser |first2=David L. |title=George MacDonald : selections from his greatest works |date=1990 |publisher=Victor Books |location=New York|oclc=1280796867}}
* {{cite thesis |last=Pridmore |first=John Stuart |date=2000 |title=Transfiguring fantasy : spiritual development in the work of George MacDonald |url=https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10006630/1/DX220760.pdf|degree= |chapter=Doctorate |publisher=Institute of Education, University of London |access-date=8 March 2024}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Rankin |first1=Jamie |title=The Genesis of George MacDonald's Scottish Novels: Edelweiss Amid the Heather? |journal=Studies in Scottish Literature |date=1989 |volume=24 |issue=1 |url=https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/ssl/vol24/iss1/6}}
* {{cite book |last1=Robb |first1=David S. |title=George MacDonald |date=1987 |publisher=Scottish Academic Press |location=Edinburgh |isbn=9780707305233|oclc=895121431}}
* {{cite book |last1=Wolff |first1=Robert Lee |title=The golden key : a study of the fiction of George MacDonald |date=1961 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven|oclc=361159}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Reis |first1=R. H. |title=The Golden Key: A Study of the Fiction of George MacDonald Robert Lee Wolff (review) |journal=Nineteenth-Century Fiction |date=September 1961 |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=182–185 |doi=10.2307/2932484|jstor=2932484}}
* {{cite book |last1=Worthing |first1=Mark William |last2=MacDonald |first2=George |title=Phantastes : George MacDonald's classic fantasy novel |date=2016 |publisher=Stone Table Books |location=Northcote, Victoria |isbn=9780995416130|oclc=976431182}}
* {{cite book |last1=Worthing |first1=Mark William |title= Narnia, Middle-earth and the Kingdom of God : a history of fantasy literature and the christian tradition Narnia, Middle-earth and the Kingdom of God : a history of fantasy literature and the christian tradition |date=2016 |publisher=Stone Table Books |location=Northcote, Victoria |isbn=9780995416116|oclc=1048126271}}


==External links== ==External links==
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* containing a few poems and translations of Novalis (Cornell University's )
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Latest revision as of 15:11, 2 October 2024

Scottish writer and Christian minister (1824–1905) For other people named George MacDonald, see George MacDonald (disambiguation).

The Reverend
George MacDonald
MacDonald in the 1860sMacDonald in the 1860s
Born(1824-12-10)10 December 1824
Huntly, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Died18 September 1905(1905-09-18) (aged 80)
Ashtead, Surrey, England
OccupationCongregational minister, writer, poet, novelist
EducationKing's College, University of Aberdeen
Period19th century
GenreChildren's literature
Notable works
Spouse Louisa Powell ​(m. 1851)

George MacDonald (10 December 1824 – 18 September 1905) was a Scottish author, poet and Christian Congregational minister. He became a pioneering figure in the field of modern fantasy literature and the mentor of fellow-writer Lewis Carroll. In addition to his fairy tales, MacDonald wrote several works of Christian theology, including several collections of sermons.

Early life

George MacDonald was born on 10 December 1824 in Huntly, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, to George MacDonald, manufacturer, and Helen McCay or MacKay. His father, a farmer, was descended from the Clan MacDonald of Glen Coe and a direct descendant of one of the families that suffered in the massacre of 1692.

MacDonald grew up in an unusually literate environment: one of his maternal uncles, Mackintosh MacKay, was a notable Celtic scholar, editor of the Gaelic Highland Dictionary and collector of fairy tales and Celtic oral poetry. His paternal grandfather had supported the publication of an edition of James Macpherson's Ossian, the controversial epic poem based on the Fenian Cycle of Celtic Mythology and which contributed to the starting of European Romanticism. MacDonald's step-uncle was a Shakespeare scholar, and his paternal cousin another Celtic academic. Both his parents were readers, his father harbouring predilections for Isaac Newton, Robert Burns, William Cowper, Chalmers, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Charles Darwin, to quote a few, while his mother had received a classical education which included multiple languages.

An account cited how the young George suffered lapses in health in his early years and was subject to problems with his lungs such as asthma, bronchitis and even a bout of tuberculosis. This last illness was considered a family disease and two of MacDonald's brothers, his mother, and later three of his own children died from the illness. Even in his adult life, he was constantly traveling in search of purer air for his lungs.

MacDonald grew up in the Congregational Church, with an atmosphere of Calvinism. However, his family was atypical, with his paternal grandfather a Catholic-born, fiddle-playing, Presbyterian elder; his paternal grandmother an Independent church rebel; his mother was a sister to the Gaelic-speaking radical who became moderator of the Free Church, while his step-mother, to whom he was also very close, was the daughter of a priest of the Scottish Episcopal Church.

MacDonald graduated from the King's College, Aberdeen in 1845 with a degree in chemistry and physics. He spent the next several years struggling with matters of faith and deciding what to do with his life. His son, biographer Greville MacDonald, stated that his father could have pursued a career in the medical field but he speculated that lack of money put an end to this prospect. It was only in 1848 that MacDonald began theological training at Highbury College for the Congregational ministry.

Early career

MacDonald was the pastor of Trinity Congregational Church, Arundel from 1850.

MacDonald was appointed minister of Trinity Congregational Church, Arundel, in 1850, after briefly serving as a locum minister in Ireland. However, his sermons—which preached God's universal love and that everyone was capable of redemption—met with little favour and his stipend was cut in half. In May 1853, MacDonald tendered his resignation from his pastoral duties at Arundel. Later he was engaged in ministerial work in Manchester, leaving that because of poor health. An account cited the role of Lady Byron in convincing MacDonald to travel to Algiers in 1856 with the hope that the sojourn would help turn his health around. When he got back, he settled in London and taught for some time at the University of London. MacDonald was also for a time editor of Good Words for the Young.

Writing career

This section needs expansion with: with a sourced, scholarly summary of MacDonald's major genres and works, providing summaries of the published perspectives of others, regarding them. You can help by adding to it. (March 2017)

MacDonald's first realistic novel David Elginbrod was published in 1863.

MacDonald is often regarded as the founding father of modern fantasy writing. His best-known works are Phantastes (1858), The Princess and the Goblin (1872), At the Back of the North Wind (1868–1871), and Lilith (1895), all fantasy novels, and fairy tales such as "The Light Princess", "The Golden Key", and "The Wise Woman". MacDonald claimed that "I write, not for children, but for the child-like, whether they be of five, or fifty, or seventy-five." MacDonald also published some volumes of sermons, the pulpit not having proved an unreservedly successful venue.

After his literary success, MacDonald went on to do a lecture tour in the United States in 1872–1873, after being invited to do so by a lecture company, the Boston Lyceum Bureau. On the tour, MacDonald lectured about other poets such as Robert Burns, Shakespeare, and Tom Hood. He performed this lecture to great acclaim, speaking in Boston to crowds in the neighbourhood of three thousand people.

George MacDonald with son Ronald (right) and daughter Mary (left) in 1864. Photograph by Lewis Carroll

MacDonald served as a mentor to Lewis Carroll; it was MacDonald's advice, and the enthusiastic reception of Alice by MacDonald's many sons and daughters, that convinced Carroll to submit Alice for publication. Carroll, one of the finest Victorian photographers, also created photographic portraits of several of the MacDonald children. MacDonald was also friends with John Ruskin and served as a go-between in Ruskin's long courtship with Rose La Touche. While in America he was befriended by Longfellow and Walt Whitman.

MacDonald's use of fantasy as a literary medium for exploring the human condition greatly influenced a generation of notable authors, including C. S. Lewis, who featured him as a character in his The Great Divorce. In his introduction to his MacDonald anthology, Lewis speaks highly of MacDonald's views:

This collection, as I have said, was designed not to revive MacDonald's literary reputation but to spread his religious teaching. Hence most of my extracts are taken from the three volumes of Unspoken Sermons. My own debt to this book is almost as great as one man can owe to another: and nearly all serious inquirers to whom I have introduced it acknowledge that it has given them great help—sometimes indispensable help toward the very acceptance of the Christian faith. ...

I know hardly any other writer who seems to be closer, or more continually close, to the Spirit of Christ Himself. Hence his Christ-like union of tenderness and severity. Nowhere else outside the New Testament have I found terror and comfort so intertwined. ...

In making this collection I was discharging a debt of justice. I have never concealed the fact that I regarded him as my master; indeed I fancy I have never written a book in which I did not quote from him. But it has not seemed to me that those who have received my books kindly take even now sufficient notice of the affiliation. Honesty drives me to emphasize it.

Others he influenced include J. R. R. Tolkien and Madeleine L'Engle. MacDonald's non-fantasy novels, such as Alec Forbes, had their influence as well; they were among the first realistic Scottish novels, and as such MacDonald has been credited with founding the "kailyard school" of Scottish writing.

Chesterton cited The Princess and the Goblin as a book that had "made a difference to my whole existence, ... in showing "how near both the best and the worst things are to us from the first ... and making all the ordinary staircases and doors and windows into magical things."

Later life

In 1877 he was given a civil list (monastic poverty/civil duty) pension. From 1879 he and his family lived in Bordighera, in a place much loved by British expatriates, the Riviera dei Fiori in Liguria, Italy, almost on the French border. In that locality there also was an Anglican church, All Saints, which he attended. Deeply enamoured of the Riviera, he spent 20 years there, writing almost half of his whole literary production, especially the fantasy work. MacDonald founded a literary studio in that Ligurian town, naming it Casa Coraggio (Bravery House). It soon became one of the most renowned cultural centres of that period, well attended by British and Italian travellers, and by locals, with presentations of classic plays and readings of Dante and Shakespeare often being held.

In 1900 he moved into St George's Wood, Haslemere, a house designed for him by his son, Robert, its building overseen by his eldest son, Greville.

George MacDonald died on 18 September 1905 in Ashtead, Surrey, England. He was cremated in Woking, Surrey, and his ashes were buried in Bordighera, in the English cemetery, along with his wife Louisa and daughters Lilia and Grace.

Personal life

This section needs expansion with: with source-based information on the whole of his family, spouse, and children, and other standard aspects of personal life. You can help by adding to it. (March 2017)

MacDonald married Louisa Powell in Hackney in 1851, with whom he raised a family of eleven children: Lilia Scott (1852–1891), Mary Josephine (1853–1878), Caroline Grace (1854–1884), Greville Matheson (1856–1944), Irene (1857–1939), Winifred Louise (1858–1946), Ronald (1860–1933), Robert Falconer (1862–1913), Maurice (1864–1879), Bernard Powell (1865–1928), and George Mackay (1867–1909).

His son Greville became a noted medical specialist, a pioneer of the Peasant Arts movement, wrote numerous fairy tales for children, and ensured that new editions of his father's works were published. Another son, Ronald, became a novelist. His daughter Mary was engaged to the artist Edward Robert Hughes until her death in 1878. Ronald's son, Philip MacDonald (George MacDonald's grandson), became a Hollywood screenwriter.

Tuberculosis caused the death of several family members, including Lilia, Mary Josephine, Grace, and Maurice, as well as one granddaughter and a daughter-in-law. MacDonald was said to have been particularly affected by the death of Lilia, his eldest.

There is a blue plaque on his home at 20 Albert Street, Camden, London.

Theology

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According to biographer William Raeper, MacDonald's theology "celebrated the rediscovery of God as Father, and sought to encourage an intuitive response to God and Christ through quickening his readers' spirits in their reading of the Bible and their perception of nature."

MacDonald's oft-mentioned universalism is not the idea that everyone will automatically be saved, but is closer to Gregory of Nyssa in the view that all will ultimately repent and be restored to God.

MacDonald appears to have never felt comfortable with some aspects of Calvinist doctrine, feeling that its principles were inherently "unfair"; when the doctrine of predestination was first explained to him, he burst into tears (although assured that he was one of the elect). Later novels, such as Robert Falconer and Lilith, show a distaste for the idea that God's electing love is limited to some and denied to others.

Chesterton noted that only a man who had "escaped" Calvinism could say that God is easy to please and hard to satisfy.

MacDonald rejected the doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement as developed by John Calvin, which argues that Christ has taken the place of sinners and is punished by the wrath of God in their place, believing that in turn it raised serious questions about the character and nature of God. Instead, he taught that Christ had come to save people from their sins, and not from a Divine penalty for their sins: the problem was not the need to appease a wrathful God, but the disease of cosmic evil itself. MacDonald frequently described the atonement in terms similar to the Christus Victor theory. MacDonald posed the rhetorical question, "Did he not foil and slay evil by letting all the waves and billows of its horrid sea break upon him, go over him, and die without rebound—spend their rage, fall defeated, and cease? Verily, he made atonement!"

MacDonald with his wife Louisa in 1901 at their 50th wedding anniversary

MacDonald was convinced that God does not punish except to amend, and that the sole end of His greatest anger is the amelioration of the guilty. As the doctor uses fire and steel in certain deep-seated diseases, so God may use hell-fire if necessary to heal the hardened sinner. MacDonald declared, "I believe that no hell will be lacking which would help the just mercy of God to redeem his children." MacDonald posed the rhetorical question, "When we say that God is Love, do we teach men that their fear of Him is groundless?" He replied, "No. As much as they were will come upon them, possibly far more. ... The wrath will consume what they call themselves; so that the selves God made shall appear."

However, true repentance, in the sense of freely chosen moral growth, is essential to this process, and, in MacDonald's optimistic view, inevitable for all beings (see universal reconciliation).

MacDonald states his theological views most distinctly in the sermon "Justice", found in the third volume of Unspoken Sermons.

Catalogue

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The following is an incomplete list of MacDonald's published works in the genre now referred to as fantasy:

Fantasy

  • MacDonald, George (1911) . The princess and the goblin. London: Blackie and Son.
  • MacDonald, George (1875). The Wise Woman: A Parable. London: Strahan and Co. (Published also as "The Lost Princess: A Double Story"; or as "A Double Story".)
  • Multiple versions with different content of The Light Princess and other Stories
  • The Gifts of the Child Christ and Other Tales (1882; republished as Stephen Archer and Other Tales) 1908 edition by Edwin Dalton, London was illustrated by Cyrus Cuneo and G. H. Evison.

Fiction

  • David Elginbrod (1863; republished in edited form as The Tutor's First Love), originally published in three volumes
  • Adela Cathcart (1864); contains many fantasy stories told by the characters within the larger story, including "The Light Princess", "The Shadows".
  • Alec Forbes of Howglen (1865; edited by Michael Phillips and republished as The Maiden's Bequest; edited to children's version by Michael Phillips and republished as Alec Forbes and His Friend Annie)
  • Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood (1867)
  • Guild Court: A London Story (1868; republished in edited form as The Prodigal Apprentice). 1908 edition by Edwin Dalton, London was illustrated by G. H. Evison. Available online at Hathi Trust.
  • Robert Falconer (1868; republished in edited form as The Musician's Quest)
  • The Seaboard Parish (1869), a sequel to Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood
  • Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood (republished in edited form as The Boyhood of Ranald Bannerman) (1871)
  • MacDonald, George (1872). Wilfred Cumbermede. London: Strahan and Co.
  • The Vicar's Daughter (1871), a sequel to Annals of a Quiet Neighborhood and The Seaboard Parish. 1908 edition by Sampson Low and Company, London was illustrated by Cyrus Cuneo and G. H. Evison.
  • The History of Gutta Percha Willie, the Working Genius (1873; republished in edited form as The Genius of Willie MacMichael), usually called simply Gutta Percha Willie
  • Malcolm (1875)
  • St. George and St. Michael (1876; edited by Dan Hamilton and republished as The Last Castle)
  • Thomas Wingfold, Curate (1876; republished in edited form as The Curate's Awakening)
  • The Marquis of Lossie (1877; republished in edited form as The Marquis' Secret), the second book of Malcolm
  • Sir Gibbie (1879): Sir Gibbie, Volume 1. London: Hurst and Blackett. 1879. With simultaneous publication of Vol. 2 and Vol. 3, each of ca. 300 pages. Also issued by Lippincott in America in a single volume set in two columns in smaller font, in 210 pages, Sir Gibbie: A Novel. Philadelphia, PA: J. B. Lippincott. 1879. The entirety of the original text is available with a Broad Scots glossary by its digitizer, John Bechard, see Sir Gibbie. 1879 – via Gutenberg.org. Republished in edited form as MacDonald, George (1990). Phillips, Michael R. (ed.). Wee Sir Gibbie of the Highlands. George MacDonald Classics. Bethany House. ISBN 978-1556611391. Also as The Baronet's Song.
  • Paul Faber, Surgeon (1879; republished in edited form as The Lady's Confession), a sequel to Thomas Wingfold, Curate
  • Mary Marston (1881; republished in edited form as A Daughter's Devotion and The Shopkeeper's Daughter)
  • Warlock o' Glenwarlock (1881; republished in edited form as Castle Warlock and The Laird's Inheritance)
  • Weighed and Wanting (1882; republished in edited form as A Gentlewoman's Choice)
  • Donal Grant (1883; republished in edited form as The Shepherd's Castle), a sequel to Sir Gibbie
  • What's Mine's Mine (1886; republished in edited form as The Highlander's Last Song)
  • Home Again: A Tale (1887; republished in edited form as The Poet's Homecoming)
  • The Elect Lady (1888; republished in edited form as The Landlady's Master)
  • A Rough Shaking (1891; republished in edited form as The Wanderings of Clare Skymer)
  • There and Back (1891; republished in edited form as The Baron's Apprenticeship), a sequel to Thomas Wingfold, Curate and Paul Faber, Surgeon
  • The Flight of the Shadow (1891)
  • Heather and Snow (1893)
  • MacDonald, George (1893). Heather and Snow. Vol. I. Piccadilly, London: Chatto and Windus.
  • MacDonald, George (1893). Heather and Snow. Vol. II. Piccadilly, London: Chatto and Windus.
  • Salted with fire
  • MacDonald, George (1900) . Salted with fire (New ed.). London: Hurst and Blackett Limited.
  • Far Above Rubies (1898)

Poetry

The following is a list of MacDonald's published poetic works:

  • Volume I:Within and Without pp 1-219
  • Volume II:The Hiden Life and Other Poems pp 221-509

Nonfiction

The following is a list of MacDonald's published works of non-fiction:

  • Unspoken Sermons (1867)
  • England's Antiphon (1868, 1874)
  • The Miracles of Our Lord (1870)
  • Cheerful Words from the Writing of George MacDonald (1880), compiled by E. E. Brown
  • Orts: Chiefly Papers on the Imagination, and on Shakespeare (1882)
  • "Preface" (1884) to Letters from Hell (1866) by Valdemar Adolph Thisted
  • The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: A Study With the Text of the Folio of 1623 (1885)
  • Unspoken Sermons, Second Series (1885)
  • Unspoken Sermons, Third Series (1889)
  • A Cabinet of Gems, Cut and Polished by Sir Philip Sidney; Now, for the More Radiance, Presented Without Their Setting by George MacDonald (1891)
  • The Hope of the Gospel (1892)
  • A Dish of Orts (1893)
  • Beautiful Thoughts from George MacDonald (1894), compiled by Elizabeth Dougall

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. Raeper 1987, pp. 15–17.
  2. For more information on this massacre, see Anon. "The Massacre of Glen Coe". Scottish History: The making of the Union. BBC. Retrieved 6 November 2012. For more information on the site of the event, see "Site Record for Glencoe, National Trust For Scotland Glencoe Visitor Centre". Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland.
  3. ^ Johnson, K. J. (2014). "Rooted Deep: Discovering the Literary Identity of Mythopoeic Fantacist George MacDonald" (PDF). Linguaculture. 2. University of Iasi Press: 27f.
  4. The Life and Times of George MacDonald. Golgotha Press. 2011. ISBN 9781621070252.
  5. Hutton, Muriel (1976). "The George MacDonald Collection". The Yale University Library Gazette. 51 (2): 74–85. JSTOR 40858616.
  6. "George MacDonald | Penguin Random House". www.penguinrandomhouse.com. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  7. "Archives and Manuscripts – Special Collections – University of Aberdeen". calms.abdn.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
  8. ^ Johnson, Rachel (2014). A Complete Identity: The Youthful Hero in the Work of G. A. Henty and George MacDonald. Cambridge, UK: The Lutterworth Press. p. 43. ISBN 9780718893590.
  9. Sparks, Tabitha (2009). The Doctor in the Victorian Novel: Family Practices. Surrey: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 50. ISBN 9780754668022.
  10. ^  This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0 (] license statement/permission]). Text taken from Biography of MacDonald​, PoemHunter.com.
  11. ^ "George MacDonald". Wheaton College. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  12. ^ "BBC Two – Writing Scotland – George MacDonald". BBC.
  13. ^ Hein, Rolland (2014). George MacDonald: Victorian Mythmaker. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers. pp. 88, 123. ISBN 9781625645074.
  14. MacDonald, George (1893). A Dish of Orts: Chiefly Papers on the Imagination, and on Shakespeare. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
  15. Seper, Charles. "USA Lecture Tour". The George MacDonald Informational Web. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  16. ^ Reis, Richard H. (1972). George MacDonald, pp. 25–34. Twayne Publishers, Inc.
  17. Seper, Charles. "Lewis Carroll's association with George MacDonald". The George MacDonald Informational Web. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  18. Rolland Hein; Frederick Buechner (10 November 2014). George MacDonald: Victorian Mythmaker. Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. XVII. ISBN 978-1625645074. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  19. Lindskoog, Kathryn Ann (2001). Surprised by C. S. Lewis, George MacDonald & Dante: An Array of Original Discoveries. Mercer University Press. p. 72. ISBN 9780865547285. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  20. C. S. Lewis, ed. (1947). George MacDonald: An Anthology.
  21. Sutherland, D. "The Founder of the New Scottish School." In The Critic, Volumes 30–31, 15 May 1897, p. 339. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  22. Macdonald 1924, p. 9.
  23. ^ Macdonald 1924, Intro.
  24. "George MacDonald: Scottish novelist, clergyman and author". Christian Classics Ethereal Library. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  25. "George McDonald". Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  26. Valerie Lester, Marvels: the life of Clarence Bicknell, botanist, archaeologist, artist, Matador, 2018, pp. 57–62.
  27. "George MacDonald Life Outline". Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  28. Skribita de Susie Bicknell. "In Clarence's Time – George MacDonald in Bordighera". clarencebicknell.com. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  29. "107 anni fa oggi moriva a Bordighera Edmondo De Amicis" [Edmondo De Amicis died today in Bordighera 107 years ago]. Bordighera.net (in Italian). 11 March 2011. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  30. "Bordighera, A Record of a Visit (1997)". Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  31. ^ Rolland Hein; Frederick Buechner (10 November 2014). George MacDonald: Victorian Mythmaker. Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers. pp. 398–399. ISBN 978-1625645074. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  32. MacDonald, Greville. "Greville MacDonald: An Inventory of His Papers at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center". legacy.lib.utexas.edu.
  33. "Who's who: An Annual Biographical Dictionary". A. & C. Black. 1 July 1907 – via Google Books.
  34. Mavis, Paul (8 June 2015). The Espionage Filmography: United States Releases, 1898 through 1999. McFarland. ISBN 9781476604275 – via Google Books.
  35. Golgotha Press (2013). Profiles of English Writers: Volume Three of Three. Hustonville, KY: Golgotha Press. ISBN 9781621076070.
  36. "George MacDonald". English Heritage. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  37. "George MacDonald's Theology". The George MacDonald WWW Page. Archived from the original on 13 January 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  38. "An Orthodox Appreciation of George MacDonald". Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity.
  39. "Unspoken Sermons by George MacDonald: Justice".
  40. Phillips, Michael R. (1987). George MacDonald: Scotland's Beloved Storyteller. Minneapolis: Bethany House. p. 209. ISBN 978-0871239440. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  41. Yamaguchi, Miho (2007). George MacDonald's Challenging Theology of the Atonement, Suffering, and Death. Wheatmark. p. 27. ISBN 9781587367984. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  42. Johnson, Joseph (1906). George MacDonald: A Biographical and Critical Appreciation. Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, Ltd. p. 155. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  43. Phillips, Michael R. (1987). George MacDonald: Scotland's Beloved Storyteller. Minneapolis: Bethany House. p. 202. ISBN 978-0871239440. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  44. "Sermon "Justice", at Unspoken Sermons Third Series". Christian Classics Ethereal Library. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  45. Macdonald, George (1908). Guild Court, A London Story. London: Edwin Dalton. hdl:2027/uc1.31210010290201. Retrieved 9 August 2020 – via The Hathi Trust (access may be limited outside the United States).

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