Revelation Book 2, also known as “Book of Revelations” or “Kirtland Revelation Book,” is a manuscript book of revelations and other items. Some of these items, such as a revelation to Lincoln Haskins, are not found anywhere else.4 Items were copied into the manuscript book over a period of almost three years, from late February or early March 1832 to late 1834. Internal evidence, historical context, and comparison with other manuscript revelations suggest approximate dates that many items were copied. Specific dates are known for several other items, such as a single journal entry recorded 8 March 1832.5 Notations by Orson Hyde date the copying of three revelations, two on 18 August 1834 and one on 27 August 1834.6 Only three revelations dated before 1831 were copied into the manuscript book.

Some items within Revelation Book 2 contain ink or graphite editing marks made to prepare them for printing in publications such as the 1835–1836 reprint of The Evening and the Morning Star and the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants.7 Similar marks appear in Revelation Book 1, which is even more heavily marked. Revelation Book 2 was used for the preparation of the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants circa 1834–1835 in Kirtland, Ohio. All but eight items in the manuscript book were published therein,8 while just three revelations appear in both the manuscript book and the Book of Commandments.9 Two revelations in the manuscript book were first published in the 1844 Doctrine and Covenants, although no evidence indicates that Revelation Book 2 was used as the source for publication.10

The first item in the manuscript book, titled “The Vision” and dated 16 February 1832, commands JS and Sidney Rigdon four times to commit the vision to paper. The version in Revelation Book 2 does not appear to be the original copy, although it was copied into the manuscript book shortly after the date it bears.11 In fact, all of the revelatory items copied into the manuscript book appear to be copies from earlier manuscripts, not the original dictated versions, and more than half are in chronological order. Frederick G. Williams acted as principal scribe for Revelation Book 2 and inscribed full or partial copies of forty items. Orson Hyde, Oliver Cowdery, and JS inscribed full or partial copies of seventeen items (eight items in the manuscript book were inscribed by more than one person). These four men, as well as William W. Phelps and Sidney Rigdon, also made later corrections.

The first two items in Revelation Book 2 (manuscript pages 1–10) were most likely copied between 16 February 1832, the date the first item bears, and 8 March 1832, the date the third item bears. The revelations on manuscript pages 11–19 were likely copied before JS left Hiram, Ohio, on 1 April 1832 to journey to Missouri, as commanded in a revelation in this portion of the manuscript book. JS dictated several revelations while in Missouri, but his scribes did not copy them into the manuscript book when he returned to Ohio in early summer 1832. One of these revelations, dated 30 April 1832, was eventually copied into the manuscript book circa 1834. A second revelation, dated 26 April 1832, was never copied into Revelation Book 2, although it was copied into Revelation Book 1 shortly after the date it bears.

The next two revelations in the manuscript book (manuscript pages 19–31) are dated August and September 1832, and both are signed by Frederick G. Williams, who served as a scribe for JS during this period. He likely copied these revelations into Revelation Book 2 shortly after they were initially recorded. The next four revelations (manuscript pages 31–48), the first of which was signed by Williams as both scribe and counselor to JS, were likely copied after Williams was appointed as counselor, which occurred by 22 January 1833.12 The next five items (manuscript pages 48–55) were likely copied soon after the dates they bear—late winter and early spring 1833.

Orson Hyde copied the next three revelations (manuscript pages 56–61), perhaps while acting as clerk for the presidency of the church, a service he performed starting 6 June 1833.13 Hyde likely copied these revelations before he left on a proselytizing mission to Pennsylvania the last week of July 1833.14 The three revelations on manuscript pages 61–71 were quoted in a letter dated 6 August 1833 and were likely copied into Revelation Book 2 about the same time.15 The next revelation (manuscript pages 71–72) was copied by Oliver Cowdery, something Cowdery could have done only after his return to Kirtland in late October 1833.16 The revelation following this (manuscript pages 73–83) was likely copied into the manuscript book before being published as a broadsheet circa January 1834.17

The next ten revelations (manuscript pages 83–97) are dated between October 1830 and the end of April 1832 and are not in chronological order. While three of the ten had been published previously (one in the 1833 Book of Commandments18 and two in The Evening and the Morning Star19), the presence of the other seven appears to be the result of an effort to collect revelations that were not in print by 1834. All are dated several years before they were copied into Revelation Book 2, and four of them were not included in the Book of Commandments although they were available for publication. Of these ten revelations, nine were later published in the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants.20

While Williams, the scribe for all ten revelations, might have coped this portion of the manuscript book in late 1833 or early 1834, internal and external evidence suggests that he copied the revelations following his return from the “Camp of Israel” expedition to Missouri in 1834 (later known as “Zion’s Camp”). August 1834 is the most probable copying date for two reasons. First, Williams erroneously dated one revelation “August 20” rather than “May 20,” suggesting that he copied it into the manuscript book in August.21 Second, a committee to publish the revelations was appointed by late September 1834, indicating that church leaders had begun to plan for another publication of the revelations by that time, possibly as early as August.22 Despite this evidence, however, late 1833 and early spring 1834 cannot be ruled out as the period Williams did this copying work.

Cowdery, Hyde, and Williams penned the next nine revelations (manuscript pages 97–120), perhaps as part of the continued attempt to collect revelations for publication. Hyde provided late August 1834 as the date he finished copying three of these revelations.23 Following these, only five revelations were copied into the manuscript book, four dated earlier than August 1834 and one dated 25 November 1834. These last five were likely copied before the end of 1834, but the copying dates are unknown.

Though space remained, scribes copied no additional revelations into Revelation Book 2. It is unknown why later revelations were not copied or who possessed the book from 1834 to 1843. Revelations of that period were recorded in other places, such as JS’s journals. When working on JS’s history in Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1843, William W. Phelps and Willard Richards used three blank leaves in the back of Revelation Book 2 to record information not incorporated into the history, often citing sources for the new material.

In addition to marking corrections, those preparing the items in Revelation Book 2 for publication pinned into the manuscript book slips of paper that contained additions or clarifications to the original text. Two such slips are extant in Revelation Book 2, and they are transcribed as separate leaves where they appear in the manuscript book. Elsewhere in Revelation Book 2, visible pinholes likely mark where additional slips were fastened to the page as texts were copied or prepared for publication.24 These marks, which suggest how the manuscript book was created, are identified in the textual annotation.

The leaf containing pages 54–55 of JS’s March–September 1838 journal, entitled “Scriptory Book,” was torn from that journal and inserted into Revelation Book 2, probably in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century when revelations from different locations in the Church Historian’s Office were assembled into one collection. That leaf is no longer in Revelation Book 2; it remains separated from the journal and is in the Revelations Collection. The leaf includes two revelations dated 8 July 1838 and is transcribed in its original location in the first volume of the Journals series. A document related to the history-writing effort in Nauvoo was also inserted into Revelation Book 2 at some point, thereby becoming associated with the book though not physically part of it.

Note: At present, the transcript of Revelation Book 2 on this website includes only the original inscriptions, not the later redactions made to the manuscript book to prepare the revelations for publication. A transcript showing the later redactions will eventually be added to this site. Until that time, readers will notice many discrepancies between the images and the transcript. For a transcript that includes the redactions, consult Revelations and Translations: Manuscript Revelation Books, facsimile ed. (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2009) or Revelations and Translations, Volume 1: Manuscript Revelation Books (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).

Except as described in this note, Revelation Book 2 is presented here electronically as a complete record. In contrast, the Documents series (multiple volumes forthcoming in print; selections also available on this site) presents each revelation separately, placed in chronological order with other documents of various genres. That series includes the earliest and best extant version of each revelation, providing contextual annotation and a historical introduction for each. Readers should consult the Documents series for information about the setting and significance of individual revelations.

“Book of Revelations,” Revelation Book 2, [ca. Feb. 1832–ca. Nov. 1834]; handwriting of Frederick G. Williams, Orson Hyde, Oliver Cowdery, and JS in both original inscription and later redactions; handwriting of William W. Phelps, Sidney Rigdon, and an unknown number of unidentified scribes in later redactions only; 121 pages and two inserted leaves; Revelations Collection, CHL. Includes redactions and archival marking. Volume also contains Willard Richards and William W. Phelps, “Facts left out Re[g]istered herei[n],” Notes for JS History, [Nauvoo, IL], [ca. 1843]; handwriting of Willard Richards and William W. Phelps; 4 pages and one inserted leaf.

This volume consists of 152 leaves—including three flyleaves in the front, three flyleaves in the back, and two pastedowns—measuring 11¹⁵/₁₆ x 7⅝ inches (30 x 19 cm). There are twelve gatherings of twelve leaves (twenty-four pages) each. All but the pastedowns and flyleaves are ledger paper with thirty-four horizontal lines in faded blue-green ink. The text block is sewn all along over recessed cords, and the front and back covers of the volume are pasteboard. The book has a tight-back case binding with a brown calfskin quarter-leather binding. The outside covers are adorned in shell marbled paper, with red and black body and veins of green. The bound volume measures 12¼ x 7⅞ inches (31 x 19 cm) and is ¹⁵/₁₆ inches thick (2 cm). The front cover of the book is labeled “Book of Revelatio[ns] | {A\A} | B” in black ink. It is unknown why an “A” was written over the inserted “A”. The inserted “B” is written in a formal style that matches the covers of other manuscript volumes in the CHL’s holdings.1 The inside front cover has “c c/i | pep” or “c c/i | pe/=” written in graphite pencil. Although this notation was written at an unknown time, similar markings appear in at least three other extant volumes.2 A piece of white paper pasted on the spine reads “KIRTLAND REVELATIONS”.

Pasted on the inside front cover is a half-page sheet containing an index of the volume’s contents through page 47. The partial index, written on cut ledger paper measuring 7¾ x 7⅝ inches (20 x 19 cm), was attached to the inside front cover with an adhesive wafer on each corner. The two upper wafers are now detached. On the verso of the index, “FGW” is written in the upper left-hand corner and a “J”, “I”, or “T” is centered along the top. What appears to be an “L” is written close to the bottom of the page. The index, which was inscribed by Frederick G. Williams, was likely begun before the revelation that begins at the bottom of page 13 was inscribed. All seven index entries up to that point appear to have been written in one sitting in the same ink flow, while the remaining entries indicate a continually updated index rather than a retrospective index. Williams interlineated the final three index entries (two for manuscript page 33 and one for manuscript page 37) where there was space in the existing text of the index, likely because no space remained at the bottom of the page.

Three blank flyleaves follow the index. The first fifteen ledger pages contain six revelations, one vision, and one journal entry that were copied in February and March 1832. These eight items are dated circa March 1831–March 1832 and do not appear in chronological order. Manuscript pages 15–83 contain twenty-one revelations and one song, dated March 1832–December 1833, that are largely in chronological order. Manuscript pages 83–97 contain ten revelations, dated October 1830–April 1832, that were copied into the volume out of chronological order sometime before summer 1834. Manuscript pages 97–116 contain six revelations, dated February 1834–November 1834, that are out of chronological order. Manuscript pages 117–120 contain three revelations dated circa December 1830, 23 February 1831, and June 1829. The first two were copied into the manuscript book at the same time. The final copied revelation is followed by eighty-one blank leaves, three leaves of historical notes, three blank flyleaves, and one final pastedown.

Revelation Book 2 was used for the preparation of the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants circa 1834–1835 in Kirtland, Ohio. Because there is no known reference to this book in church records from 1836 to 1843—when the church’s headquarters moved from Kirtland to Far West, Missouri, and then to Nauvoo, Illinois, and it was not being used to record revelations—it is unknown who had possession of the manuscript book during this time. When compiling JS’s history in 1843, Willard Richards and William W. Phelps turned the manuscript book upside down and used three blank leaves at the back of the volume for notations about their history-writing effort. The title on the back cover, partially worn off and written in black ink that later turned brown, reflects this usage: “Facts left out | Re[g]istered | herei[n]”. Revelation Book 2 is listed on the Church Historian’s Office 1846 inventory as “Book of ‘Revelations B’”. Subsequent inventories have listed similar titles, indicating continuous custody.3

Note: At present, the transcript of Revelation Book 2 on this website includes only the original inscriptions, not the later redactions made to the manuscript book to prepare the revelations for publication. A transcript showing the later redactions will eventually be added to this site. Until that time, readers will notice many discrepancies between the images and the transcript. For a transcript that includes the redactions, consult Revelations and Translations: Manuscript Revelation Books, facsimile ed. (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2009) or Revelations and Translations, Volume 1: Manuscript Revelation Books (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).

Except as described in this note, Revelation Book 2 is presented here electronically as a complete record. In contrast, the Documents series (multiple volumes forthcoming in print; selections also available on this site) presents each revelation separately, placed in chronological order with other documents of various genres. That series includes the earliest and best extant version of each revelation, providing contextual annotation and a historical introduction for each. Readers should consult the Documents series for information about the setting and significance of individual revelations.