The Joseph Smith Papers

 

  • New Content on Joseph Smith Papers Website

    The Joseph Smith Papers Project announces the addition of the following new content and features to its website, josephsmithpapers.org:

    • Two manuscript versions of the history written by Lucy Mack Smith, the mother of Joseph Smith, after his death. Lucy dictated a rough draft version to Martha Jane Knowlton Coray (with some additional scribal help from Martha’s husband, Howard) beginning in 1844 and concluding in 1845. In 1845, the Corays inscribed a fair copy of the history under Lucy’s direction. These two manuscripts chronicle the history of Joseph Smith’s family and the growth of the church through Joseph Smith’s death.
    • Joseph Smith’s Nauvoo, Illinois, journals as published in Journals, Volume 2, with all their accompanying annotation (first Nauvoo journal; second Nauvoo journal, book 1; second Nauvoo journal, book 2). Covering the period from December 1841 through April 1843, these journals chronicle such significant developments as the organization of the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo, proxy baptism for deceased persons, the publication of the Book of Abraham, the construction of the Nauvoo temple, the continued growth of the church and ongoing settlement of Nauvoo, and the maturing of Joseph Smith as a religious and political leader.
    • History, circa Summer 1832, which includes the earliest account of Joseph Smith’s first vision of deity and was written by him and scribe Frederick G. Williams.
    • Introductions to the Nauvoo journals and Joseph Smith’s history writing efforts.
    • New and updated reference material, including source citations for 81 biographical descriptions.

    Also recently added are the Kirtland Egyptian Papers, volume C-1 of the 1838–1856 history, and an updated search feature that makes it easier to navigate to search results within the documents. In the coming months more documents from the Documents, Journals, Histories, Revelations and Translations, and Administrative Records series will be added. Eventually the website will contain images and transcripts of all extant and available Joseph Smith papers.

     
     

  • Explanations for the Doctrine and Covenants Section Headings

    On March 1, 2013, the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced a new edition of the Latter-day Saint scriptures. The 2013 edition includes adjustments to the headings of seventy-eight sections of the Doctrine and Covenants. For more information on these changes, see the materials posted with the First Presidency’s announcement. In particular, see Adjustments, an overview of the types of adjustments made in the new edition of the Latter-day Saint scriptures; and Side by Side Comparison, a comparison of the former Doctrine and Covenants section headings against the revised headings.

    Information supporting these changes through section 88 of the Doctrine and Covenants will be made available in two forthcoming volumes of The Joseph Smith Papers. The volumes are Documents, Volume 1: July 1828–June 1831 (fall 2013) and Documents, Volume 2: July 1831–January 1833 (late 2013 or early 2014). Information supporting changes beyond section 88 will be made available in subsequent volumes.

    Explanations for most of the significant changes made to the headings are provided below, in advance of publication of the Joseph Smith Papers volumes.

    Introduction to the Doctrine and Covenants

    For the 2013 edition, the introduction was revised to provide more information about the recording and publishing of the revelations. For more information, see "Introduction to the Manuscript Revelation Books" and Joseph Smith–Era Publications of Revelations."

    Section 10

    The revised heading in the 2013 edition changes the date of the revelation from summer 1828 to "likely around April 1829." For more information, see the Historical Introduction to Revelation, Spring 1829 [D&C 10].

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  • Joseph Smith Papers Project to Publish Book of Mormon Manuscripts

    The Joseph Smith Papers Project is pleased to announce that it has received permission from officials of the Community of Christ to publish the printer’s manuscript of the Book of Mormon as part of the print edition of The Joseph Smith Papers.

    It is anticipated that the manuscript, which was used to set the majority of type for the first edition of the Book of Mormon, will be published in the future as the third volume of the project’s Revelations and Translations series. The volume will be a facsimile edition, featuring a photographic image of each page of the manuscript arranged in a parallel format with a transcript of that page.

    The editors of the volume are Royal Skousen, professor of linguistics and English language at Brigham Young University, and Robin Scott Jensen, a historian with the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Skousen and Jensen will work together to apply the project’s stylistic conventions to the transcript of the printer’s manuscript earlier published by Skousen as part of his Book of Mormon Critical Text Project.

    Community of Christ officials have also generously permitted high-resolution photographs of the manuscript to be taken by Welden C. Andersen, a photographer with the Publication Services Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Andersen’s photographs, taken in fall 2012, will be included in the volume.

    Management and staff of the Church History Department and the Joseph Smith Papers Project are deeply grateful for the collaboration of Community of Christ officials, Professor Skousen, and Brigham Young University administrators on this significant project.

    After the printer’s manuscript is published, Skousen will work with Jensen and other project editors to prepare and publish a facsimile edition, with photographs and transcripts, of the surviving portions of the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon.