Foundational Texts of Mormonism: Examining Major Early Sources

Joseph Smith, founding prophet and martyr of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, personally wrote, dictated, or commissioned thousands of documents. Among these are several highly significant sources that scholars have used over and over again in their attempts to reconstruct the founding era of Mormonism, usually by focusing solely on content, without a deep appreciation for how and why a document was produced. This book offers case studies of the sources most often used by historians of the early Mormon experience. Each chapter takes a particular document as its primary subject, considering the production of a document as an historical event in itself, with its own background, purpose, circumstances, and consequences. The documents are examined not merely as sources of information but as artifacts that reflect aspects of the general culture and particular circumstances in which they were created. This book will help historians working in the founding era of Mormonism gain a more solid grounding in the period's documentary record by supplying important information on major primary sources.

Table of Contents:
Foreword Harry S. Stout Contributors Chapter 1 Introduction Mark Ashurst-McGee, Robin Scott Jensen, and Sharalyn D. Howcroft Chapter 2 The Gold Plates as Foundational Text Richard Lyman Bushman Chapter 3 Textual Criticism and the Book of Mormon Grant Hardy Chapter 4 Intertextuality and the Purpose of Joseph Smith's New Translation of the Bible Thomas A. Wayment Chapter 5 The Dictation, Compilation, and Canonization of Joseph Smith's Revelations Grant Underwood Chapter 6 Joseph Smith's Missouri Prison Letters and the Mormon Textual Community David W. Grua Chapter 7 The Textual Culture of the Nauvoo Female Relief Society Leadership and Minute Book Jennifer Reeder Chapter 8 Joseph Smith's Sermons and the Early Mormon Documentary Record William V. Smith Chapter 9 Joseph Smith's Nauvoo Journals Alex D. Smith and Andrew H. Hedges Chapter 10 The Early Diaries of Wilford Woodruff, 1835-1839 Laurel Thatcher Ulrich Chapter 11 A Textual and Archival Reexamination of Lucy Mack Smith's History Sharalyn D. Howcroft Chapter 12 The Image as Text and Context in Early Mormon History Jeffrey G. Cannon Chapter 13 Joseph Smith and the Conspicuous Scarcity of Early Mormon Documentation Ronald O. Barney

About the Author :
Mark Ashurst- McGee is the Senior Historian and Senior Research and Review Editor for the Joseph Smith Papers Project, where he specializes in document analysis and documentary editing methodology. He is a coeditor of several volumes of the Joseph Smith Papers and is the author of several articles on Joseph Smith and early Mormon history. Robin Scott Jensen is Associate Managing Historian and the Project Archivist for the Joseph Smith Papers Project. Jensen is a coeditor of the volumes in the Revelations and Translations series of the Joseph Smith Papers and is the author of several articles on Joseph Smith and early Mormon history. Sharalyn D. Howcroft is a member of the Academy of Certified Archivists and an archivist for the Joseph Smith Papers Project specializing in handwriting identification and custodial history.

Review :
"Textual criticism, as practiced in this book, sheds important light on the understanding of revelation in early Mormonism...This volume offers a fine collection of essays on early Mormon history and the concept of revelation as understood by early church members." -- Hans Gerald Hödl, University of Vienna, Religious Studies Review "Foundational Texts of Mormonism offers one of the first pathways from The Joseph Smith Papers to scholars and students of early Mormonism ... It offers a lens into historical practices, everyday life of early Mormonism, and the material culture that defined private, public, and religious life." -- Michael Hubbard MacKay, Mormon Studies Review "Foundational Texts of Mormonism presents for the scholar and the casual reader added context and understanding to the various receptions of these texts over time. The individual essays are valuable to any study of the texts they examine while also being fine examples of several different types of textual criticism in their own right." -- Gerrit van Dyk, BYU Studies Quarterly "This book, then, is more than a discussion of the 'foundational sources' of a new religious movement. It shows us that movement's self-creation through its production of documents ... After seeing the similar care and diligence these authors have shown to the documents they study, it will be hard for any historian to avoid scrutinizing the handwriting or watermarks or folds that mark any page that comes before them in an archive." --Matthew Bowman, Reading Religion "In short, this volume is a must-have for historians of Mormonism. I can't think of many edited collections in the field more worthy of that title It will also work as a great primer for historians of other topics who need an introduction to the field. Indeed, any scholar interested in early Mormonism will need to consult at least one chapter in this volume. It is an instant classic."--Benjamin E. Park, Professor Park's Blog "In recent years, the Joseph Smith Papers Project has published and annotated the documents created by Mormonism's founding prophet. This path-breaking book is part of the payoff. In it, scholars examine several of the most significant texts-the Book of Mormon, revelations, letters, and journals-to reconstruct the religious world in which Joseph Smith and his followers lived."--John G. Turner, Professor of Religious Studies at George Mason University, author of The Mormon Jesus: A Biography "Mormonism's unique canon and voluminous historiography can be daunting. The record is simply too thick and opaque for most to gain access. This collection provides a path through the thicket with well-chosen, authoritative sources and expert analysis. It is an especially useful introduction to the Joseph Smith Papers. The general and scholarly reader will be benefited by this singular contribution to Mormon Studies."--Kathleen Flake, Richard Lyman Bushman Professor of Mormon Studies, University of Virginia Department of Religious Studies "Historical sources have their own histories. This is especially true of the primary texts that shape our fundamental understanding of the foundations of Mormonism. This collection of essays by experts in the field is an invaluable resource for scholars working on early Mormonism or religion in nineteenth-century America, orienting them to the complex histories behind the sources they employ to write their own histories."--Patrick Q. Mason, Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies, Claremont Graduate University