Henry Van Dyke

Henry Jackson van Dyke was an American author, educator, and clergyman. Among his popular writings are the two Christmas stories, "The Other Wise Man" (1896) and "The First Christmas Tree" (1897). Various religious themes of his work are also expressed in his poetry, hymns and the essays collected in Little Rivers (1895) and Fisherman's Luck (1899). He wrote the lyrics to the popular hymn, "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee" (1907), sung to the tune of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy." He compiled several short stories in The Blue Flower (1902), named after the key symbol of Romanticism introduced first by Novalis. He also contributed a chapter to the collaborative novel, The Whole Family (1908). One of van Dyke's best-known poems is titled "Time Is" (Music and Other Poems, 1904), also known as "For Katrina's Sundial" because it was composed to be an inscription on a sundial in the garden of an estate owned by his friends Spencer and Katrina Trask. The second section of the poem, which was read at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales.

"The Story of the Other Wise Man" captures the true spirit of Christmas. While three wise men reached their destination to meet and offer gifts to the new baby Jesus, the other wise man did something more important; he stopped to help others who were poor and less fortunate. This is a large print edition, with easy-to-read text of Van Dyke's classic work (with the original illustrations). During the time of the birth of Jesus, a fourth Wise Man, Artaban, sells all his possessions to buy three precious jewels which he hopes to present to the newborn Christ Child. Although he planned to journey with the other three Magi to Bethlehem, he is delayed and fails to rendezvous with them. Artaban spends his whole life searching for the Christ, and in his search he gives away one, then two, and finally all three of his jewels to help others, but in the end his quest is fulfilled in unexpected ways. Although written more than a century ago, this is still a topical Christmas story for young and old that captures the true spirit of Christmas.