Customer Reviews

Personal Writings of Joseph Smith

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I am glad that the renaissance of Joseph Smith Manuscripts is still going on. It hit a high mark when Mark Hoffman was deftly producing his forgeries, and seems to have petered out a bit. As Jesse says in the introduction, "Since the first edition, a team of scholars has commenced preparing for publication the complete papers of Joseph Smith, which, it is anticipated, will fill a dozen volumes." (xvi) Good! The Church of Jesus Christ has put a lot of time and money into Islamic Classics translations, and the Dead Sea Scrolls, that it is high time they remember their founder and prophet!

The book itself is a gem. It has some materials that were previously published in "The Papers of Joseph Smith, vol 1-2," such as the 1832 account of the visitation of God the Father and the Son Jesus Christ, and his early journals. The bulk of the book is devoted to letters and epistles Joseph Smith wrote in the process of his life and mission.

Some of the letters are interesting, such as his letter to Oliver Cowdery discussing his early childhood. Others, such as his letters to Edward Hunter (my great-great-grand uncle), are rather boring and incidental to the greater work. This book also includes several letters to his wife Emma. I feel like a voyeur as I read these letters, but I am also very curious about this aspect of Joseph Smith's life. We see him as a Prophet, Seer, Revelator, and Translator, but not as a husband, father, and lover. These letters open up this aspect on to the man's life.

Jesse has also included photographs of the manuscripts, so if you are into eyestrain, you can compare the transcription against the original document. This becomes important in the 1832 account of the First Vision, where Joseph Smith give his age when the events happened. He wrote the age in a "between-line" insertion, and wrote the age in Arabic numerals. The age has traditionally (habitually?) been transcribed as "16th year of my age," but as the manuscript showy, the "y" from the "heard my cry" in the immediate above line crosses over the "16" in the insertion, so it is possible that the "16" may actually be a "15," which corresponds to the other accounts of the First Vision.

The maps are absolutely incredible, and the mini-biographies help us keep track of who's who. The paper is very sturdy archival paper, and the binding is reinforced, so the book should really last the ages.

"Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah!" This volume illustrates how God worked through Joseph Smith -- a most uncommon man -- to restore the fullness of the Gospel in this last dispensation.

Probably in effort to make up for failure to produce "Papers of Joseph Smith vol. 3," Jessee here republishes his long touted necessity of all LDS scholars' personal libraries "Personal Papers of Joseph Smith." The new edition removes some of the Hofmann forgeries (Patriarchal blessing of Joseph III, Anthon manuscript, etc.) and updates some of the erroneous footnotes of the first version, as well as the introduction of a new letter or two sent by the Prophet. The reader will be especially interested in the letter correspondance between Governer Thomas Ford and the prophet prior to the martyrdom. This is an expensive book, and I recommend it only for the Joseph Smith history enthusiast, as the casual reader/learner may find his personal writings difficult to navigate or search. Those interested in the doctrine taught by the prophet should continue to seek the usual sources (TPJS, WJS, etc.) as this book is predominately historical.

The breathless, sycophantic tone of the inside flap sets the tone of the book. "What would it have been like to have known the Prophet Joseph Smith, to have seen him face to face, to have heard his words?" Sounds like the start of a teenage romance novel to me. One star for sycophancy.

However, the book is indeed Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, and not The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, and so another star for honesty. These cherry-picked letters etc. are selected to make the Prophet the wholesome hero of Pioneer America, and the original documents are reproduced to show their verisimilitude. But so much has been omitted to produce this enviable man that the evidence would be shot down in court - remember, the truth, THE WHOLE TRUTH, and nothing but the truth? This book is good on number one and number three, but paints a happy picture only by ignoring number two.