Courtesy Intellectual Reserve

On Tuesday, the 179th anniversary of the death of Joseph Smith, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Church Historians Press released the final print volume of “The Joseph Smith Papers.”

The 22-year, 27-volume work — “The Joseph Smith Papers” — began in June 2001. The project brings together Smith’s surviving papers, including the foundational documents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, into an accessible collection. The collection is available online and in print, including complete transcriptions, introductions, annotations and extensive reference material, according to information given at a church press conference.

“He’s revered as a prophet by millions of members throughout the church, but he was also just a man. … We know the weaknesses, the challenges that he had, that he overcame in order to serve and act as prophet,” said Robin Scott Jensen, project historian.

The culmination of the print edition now completes an essential resource for scholars and students of Smith’s life and work, early Latter-day Saint history and American history and religion. Principal documents featured in the 27 volumes include 1,306 journal entries, 643 letters and 155 revelations. According to Elder Gerrit W. Gong, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the volumes total 18,822 pages, 7,452,072 words and 49,687 footnotes.

“Every document that we know of that was produced by or under the direction of Joseph Smith, or written to him directly, has been published with annotations,” said Elder Kyle S. McKay, church historian and recorder, during a press conference at the Church History Library in Salt Lake City. “When you read these documents, … it’s not novel style. It’s not a narration. It’s document after document after document. And you kind of put the narration together. But you do get a sense for how God uses an ordinary person and creates something magnificent.”

Courtesy Intellectual Reserve

Philanthropists and business leaders Gail Miller and Larry H. Miller, who died in 2009, recognized the importance of the Joseph Smith Papers project early on and supported the legacy project for a period of more than 20 years. Thanks to this project, Gail Miller said, “Joseph Smith will be known by billions.”

With funding from the Millers, the church hired a team including Ph.D.-educated historians and professional editors to produce the Joseph Smith Papers.

“To prepare these documents will only make us more effective in telling the story of the ongoing restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ in all the world as we move into the future,” said Elder David A. Bednar, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Smith, the first president and prophet of the church, lived from 1805 to 1844. He left an extensive literary record that provides a window into the early days of the church he founded.

“To be a part of a project that is bigger than myself. It is bigger than my colleagues who have worked so much and contributed so much of their time and effort and their lives to this work. To see that and what it’s become — it’s been extremely gratifying. I’m looking forward to how it will be used and how it will improve scholarship in the early Church, as well as scholarship on Joseph Smith,” said Sharalyn Howcroft, project archivist.

Courtesy Intellectual Reserve

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been praised for its commitment to historical transparency.

“The Church didn’t want to hide anything about Joseph Smith,” said Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, a Pulitzer Prize winner in history and professor at Harvard University. “They felt confident that if the actual records — the primary sources — were available, responsible scholars would consult them.”

Additionally, the scholarly approach in compiling the volumes was endorsed by the National Archives for meeting the most rigorous criteria for documentary editing. Thomas P. Slaughter, Arthur R. Miller Professor of History at the University of Rochester, called the project “the gold standard in the field of historical documentary editing.”

The final volume to be released, “Documents Volume 15,” covers the tumultuous final six weeks of Joseph Smith’s life and the events leading to his murder in Carthage, Illinois. It features 105 documents from his personal correspondences to accounts of discourses, administrative minutes, municipal documents, military orders and legal papers.

In addition to the printed volumes, the project and its resources are available for free on http://josephsmithpapers.org.

“The Joseph Smith papers are completely priceless. There’s no way of measuring their value. The papers are our sacred history. They’re the history of where we came from as a people,” said R. Eric Smith, general editor.

Newsletter