Completion of Joseph Smiths History ~ Near the end of his life, Joseph Smith gave high priority to his history, and hes finally able to devote the resources to make it a substantial production. In May 1843, he told William W. Phelps of a message that came to him in a dream: The history must go ahead before any thing. (JS Journal, 19 May 1843, JS Collection, CHL) When noise from a school hindered the work of his scribes, Joseph Smith told the schoolmaster to relocate, as the History must continue, and not be disturbed. (JS History, vol. E-1, 1768; see also JS, Journal, 7 Nov. 1843, JS Collection, CHL) In Dec. 1842, Willard Richards was assigned to write for the the history, and soon after, he became supervisor of the other scribes and compilers. Under Richards direction, the enterprise made substantial progress. Addressing the Saints in Nauvoo a month before hes killed, Joseph Smith noted w/satisfaction that during the past 3yrs his acts and proceedings had been recorded by efficient Clerks in constant employ, whod accompanied him everywhere and carefully kept my history, and they have written down what I have done, where I have been & what I have said. (Sermon of Joseph the Proph[et], 26 May 1844, p. 2, JS Collection, CHL.) When Joseph Smiths killed in June 1844, the manuscript history numbered 812 pages in 2 bound manuscript volumes...but it recorded events only up to 5 August 1838. (see JS History, vol. B-1, 812; see also Jessee, Writing of Joseph Smiths History, 441, 466.) The commitment to write the history didnt die w/the churchs founder...however, and by Jan. 1846, when the manuscripts packed up for removal from Nauvoo, it totaled 1, 486 pages and contd the narrative to 1 March 1843. The xodus from Nauvoo to the Great Basin interrupted writing for more than 8yrs. On 1 December 1853, Richards dictated 1 sentence of the history...but illness prevented further work, and he died 11 March 1854. (JS History, vol. D-1, 1486) His successors George A. Smith, a church apostle, cousin of Joseph Smith, and eyewitness to much of the LDS history. By 1856 the massive historys completed up to Joseph Smiths death. It filled 2, 332 pages in 6 manuscript volumes. Serial duplication of the History of Joseph Smith in the Nauvoo Times and Seasons contd to 15 February 1846, the newspapers final issue. In April 1845, church leaders made plans to publish the history in book form in Nauvoo, and a fair copy of the multivolume historys begun, apparently intended to aid in the typesetting of the book. (Historians Office, Journal, 3 Apr. 1845, 1:35) These publication plans werent carried out...however, perhaps cause of growing opposition to the Mormons in Nauvoo. The duplicate copy of the historys used as the source text in Utah when the Deseret News picked up serial publication of the history where the Times and Seasons left off...the series ran from 15 November 1851 to 20 January 1858. (Creation of the 2nd copy of the historys discontd 6 August 1856, by which time the history had been copied to 18 July 1843 and the copy numbered 5 volumes, designated volumes A-2 through E-2. Beginning Dec. 1856, the 1st copy of the history again became the source fro publication in the Deseret News. (JS History, vol. E-2, 83.) Its also published in England in the Latter Day Saints Millennial Star, 1st from June 1842 to May 1845 and continuing from 15 April 1852 to 2 May 1863. Beginning in 1902, the historys edited and published in 6 volumes under the editorship of Latter-Day Saint theologian and historian B. H. Roberts, as History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Period 1. History of Joseph Smith, the Prophet by Himself. An accompanying 7th volume edited by Roberts covered the history of the church through 8 October 1848. History of the Church has served as the most comprehensive single source for the study of the beginnings of Mormonism since its publication. Photo: Multivolume manuscript history of Joseph Smith. These manuscript volumes, labeled A-1 through F-1, were compiled and written between 1839 and 1856, starting from work done in 1838. The history began under the supervision of Joseph Smith and had reached page 812 in volume B-1 by the time of his death. Between 1842 and 1863, this historys published serially in various church periodicals. Under the editorship of B. H. Roberts, the historys published in 6 volumes as History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Period 1 between 1902 and 1912, w/Joseph Smith listed as author. JS History, vols. A-1--F-1, CHL, SLC.
Posted on: Wed, 14 Jan 2015 01:12:20 +0000