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The Joseph Smith Papers: Revelations and Translations #1
Manuscript Revelations Books
The Revelations and Translations series of the Joseph Smith Papers Project will present carefully reproduced facsimiles of most of the earliest manuscripts of Joseph Smith's written revelations and translations. Revelations and Translations, Volume 1, features two manuscript books into which scores of Joseph Smith's revelations, dated from 1828 to 1834, were copied by early Church scribes. The revelations copied into these two books became the primary basis for the canonized books of Joseph Smith's revelations: the Book of Commandments, published in 1833, and the first edition of the Doctrine and Covenants (1835). These revelation books are some of the earliest documents relating to the Restoration and the work of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and they rank among the most important documents in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints. In this oversized, full- color volume, the handwritten revelations will be reproduced on the left- hand pages, with the corresponding transcriptions (including annotations) on the right- hand pages. Many who have viewed the texts said they felt they were experiencing a rare "spiritual artifact." This landmark work will provide easy access to accurate and complete texts of these foundational documents.
752 pages, Hardcover
First published September 30, 2009
About the author
Dean C. Jessee
13 books5 followersDean C. Jessee is a general editor of The Joseph Smith Papers. He earned an MA in LDS Church history from Brigham Young University. He worked for the Archives and the History Division of the Historical Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1964 to 1981, followed by nineteen years of service at the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History at Brigham Young University. His gathering and publishing of Joseph Smith’s papers led to the current Joseph Smith Papers. His publications include Personal Writings of Joseph Smith (1984, 2001 rev. ed.); Papers of Joseph Smith, vols. 1 and 2 (1989, 1991); Brigham Young’s Letters to His Sons (1974); and numerous articles regarding early LDS history. He is a past president of the Mormon History Association.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 13, 2017
Finally an authoritative discussion surrounding the life of Joseph Smith. For years I have heard that Joseph was indicted for several serious offences, but no further details were available (that I knew of). I heard Bro Joseph sending the twelve on missions to England, and yet details were sparse. I heard many were angry with the Latter-day Saints in Missouri, but only "heard" plasuible reasons. From the time of Bro Joseph's leg surgery in his home (and the detailed miracle that was) to his martrydom, these discussions answer all the questions. Jessee, etc researched court documents, personal and historical writings, to tell the facts succinctly. Well written and fairly non-biased - telling the events in Bro Joseph's life. Excellent and reliable.
November 24, 2024
A wonderful resource!
March 26, 2018
Reading this book, which contains the entire texts of "Revelations Book 1" and "Revelations Book 2," was an amazing experience. "Revelations Book 1," which was only recently discovered in the Church archives, was used to set the type for the Book of Commandments printed in Independence. It is the earliest known manuscript of Joseph Smith's early revelations, although it was apparently created by copying an even earlier, but now lost, manuscript or manuscripts. The language of the revelations is rough -- very little punctuation and atrocious spelling -- but that makes them seem all the more real.
"Revelations Book 2," which was used to set the type for the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants (and also for some publications in the Evening and Morning Star), contains most of the same revelations, but they are much more polished and edited. They still seem very real, however, because they are interspersed with several revelations that were never published because of their mundane subject matter (e.g., one of the unpublished revelations tells JS to buy paper for the printing of the revelations, but to not give the paper to Martin Harris -- I would LOVE to know the story behind that one, by the way), but the almost quotidian nature of those unpublished revelations, again, make them, and thus, all the other revelations, all the more real. JS himself wrote a good portion of the revelations in Book 2 himself, which also is really cool. I think it's great that, in Revelations Book 1, JS made many edits in his own hand, my favorite being the insertion of the word "the" in front of every occurrence of the word "Ohio." (My kids laughed at that every time we read it in the Doctrine and Covenants for our family scripture study.)
Another really cool treat are the occasional non-revelation entries in both Books. For example, in Book 1, there are some words written in the "pure," presumably Adamic, language that are then translated. In Book 2, we have the translation, done by Sidney Rigdon, of a song given by David W. Patton (again, likely in the Adamic language), which talks about Enoch's great vision of the history and future of the world that we read about in the Pearl of Great Price.
I have to give the book 4 stars, however, because, although the introductory materials at the beginning of the book and the historical appendices at the end are superb, I wish that the revelations themselves had historical commentary or introductions, like the Journals Volumes have. That would have made reading them much, much more enriching. In the book's general introduction (which, by itself, is almost worth the entire purchase price of the book, it is so chock full of good information) the editors state that they will include historical commentary with the revelations when they are published in the Documents series of the JS Papers. I question why they didn't do it with the first publication of the revelations, however.
"Revelations Book 2," which was used to set the type for the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants (and also for some publications in the Evening and Morning Star), contains most of the same revelations, but they are much more polished and edited. They still seem very real, however, because they are interspersed with several revelations that were never published because of their mundane subject matter (e.g., one of the unpublished revelations tells JS to buy paper for the printing of the revelations, but to not give the paper to Martin Harris -- I would LOVE to know the story behind that one, by the way), but the almost quotidian nature of those unpublished revelations, again, make them, and thus, all the other revelations, all the more real. JS himself wrote a good portion of the revelations in Book 2 himself, which also is really cool. I think it's great that, in Revelations Book 1, JS made many edits in his own hand, my favorite being the insertion of the word "the" in front of every occurrence of the word "Ohio." (My kids laughed at that every time we read it in the Doctrine and Covenants for our family scripture study.)
Another really cool treat are the occasional non-revelation entries in both Books. For example, in Book 1, there are some words written in the "pure," presumably Adamic, language that are then translated. In Book 2, we have the translation, done by Sidney Rigdon, of a song given by David W. Patton (again, likely in the Adamic language), which talks about Enoch's great vision of the history and future of the world that we read about in the Pearl of Great Price.
I have to give the book 4 stars, however, because, although the introductory materials at the beginning of the book and the historical appendices at the end are superb, I wish that the revelations themselves had historical commentary or introductions, like the Journals Volumes have. That would have made reading them much, much more enriching. In the book's general introduction (which, by itself, is almost worth the entire purchase price of the book, it is so chock full of good information) the editors state that they will include historical commentary with the revelations when they are published in the Documents series of the JS Papers. I question why they didn't do it with the first publication of the revelations, however.
September 12, 2016
This large format book gives color photographs of all the original recorded revelations from the early days of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which ended up in the Book of Commandments and the early Doctrine & Covenants. Each revelation is also fully transcribed, with scribes noted and other relevant historical information. There is no better souce to see and understand what Joseph Smith received in the early 1830s.
September 29, 2009
A fascinating way to read the early revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants. Plus, I had always wondered where Orson Pratt got his information about pure language. It appears to have been the result of the continuation of the Q&A in D&C 77.
I've already been accused of being a bit odd for having read through the book (by one of the volume editors, no less) but I recommend this to anyone who wants to study the Doctrine and Covenants seriously.
I suppose I am a bit odd.
I've already been accused of being a bit odd for having read through the book (by one of the volume editors, no less) but I recommend this to anyone who wants to study the Doctrine and Covenants seriously.
I suppose I am a bit odd.
September 23, 2009
I got this yesterday and absolutely love it. It is very straightforward, without a whole lot of interpretation to it, but it is amazing. It is a must have for students of Mormon history.
September 23, 2009
This is probably the most fabulous book first printed in my lifetime.
May 11, 2016
Fantastic Book, Amazing to see church history up so close
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews