New Content at Joseph Smith Papers

The JSP has announced some new content at their web site. All annotation for Documents Vol. 5 is now up. In addition, Robin Jensen, Associate Managing Historian of the Papers has a new article on the Book of Abraham complementing the recent Revelations and Translation series volume on the Book of Abraham.

Conference Notice: John Whitmer Historical Association 2019 Annual Conference

Kindle Version of Textual Studies of the Doctrine and Covenants for cheap

If you purchased your hard copy of Textual Studies of the Doctrine and Covenants: The Plural Marriage Revelation from Amazon, you can get the Kindle version for $2.99. I like the electronic adjunct, it makes it easy to search.

Job Announcement: Civil War Governors of Kentucky Digital Documentary Edition, Editorial Assistant

Editorial Assistant Vacancy — Closes Feb. 8, 2019

The Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) seeks an Editorial Assistant to join the staff of the Civil War Governors of Kentucky Digital Documentary Edition (CWGK). This nationally recognized digital humanities project that locates and publishes new stories about everyday Kentuckians navigating an unprecedented national and community crisis through documents associated with the state’s Civil War governors. For more information on CWGK, visit discovery.civilwargovernors.org.

This position will assist with ongoing editorial work such as document search, identification and control, transcription, and proofing on digitized texts from libraries and archives in Kentucky and across the nation. The editorial assistant will also edit biographies for a growing social network of people, places, and organizations mentioned in those texts. The editorial assistant will occasionally assist in CWGK outreach efforts and special projects.

The work of this editorial assistant focuses on the KHS mission to prepare for the challenges of the future through an understanding of the past. This work empowers a collaborative KHS Research Experience team to prepare exceptional history and humanities content for diverse contemporary audiences of scholars, students, and citizens.

This is a Federally Funded, Time Limited position made possible by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. This position is scheduled to end on Dec. 31, 2019.

Qualifications:
Education/Experience – Masters degree and/or Bachelors degree and 2 years’ experience in history, archives, editing, education or related field is required. Research specialization in 19th century U.S. history, experience with documentary editing, classroom teaching experience, and/or digital humanities is preferred.

Familiarity with Internet, word processing, spreadsheets, and email is required. Special training in or experience with photo editing, database use and management, XML (particularly TEI) encoding, and online exhibition software is preferred.

Must be able to complete editorial tasks with the highest attention to detail. Must be able to self-regulate work rate and complete multiple assigned tasks accurately and efficiently. Must be willing to travel within Kentucky and other states. Must be willing to occasionally work evenings and weekends. Must be able to remain stationary for extended periods.

Annual salary for this position is $32,000. Benefits include paid health and life insurance, vacation and sick leave, holiday pay, state retirement and optional deferred compensation plan. This is a full-time position located in Frankfort, Kentucky.

To apply, e-mail a complete dossier including: cover letter, C.V., transcripts, contact information (email, telephone) for three professional references and a short (2-3 pp.) statement of your experience with or appreciation of digital humanities and/or documentary editing. All files should be in Word or PDF format and sent to khs.hr@ky.gov. No phone calls please.

Application deadline is Feb. 8, 2019.

Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/D

The Kentucky Historical Society is a state agency and membership organization that is fully accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. Our mission is to educate and engage the public through Kentucky history in order to confront the challenges of the future.

Job Announcement: Associate Editor, Publications Department, Massachusetts Historical Society

The Massachusetts Historical Society seeks a full-time Associate Editor to work in its Publications Department. An independent research library and major repository of American manuscript materials, the Society was founded in 1791 to collect, preserve, and make available resources for the study of American history. The Associate Editor helps to fulfill the Society’s mission to communicate historical manuscripts and other materials that promote the study of the history of Massachusetts and the nation to a broad audience, in print and digital form. The Publications Department is responsible for production of the Society’s journal (Massachusetts Historical Review) and newsletter (MHS Miscellany) as well as print and digital book publications, including scholarly editions of archival documents. The Associate Editor contributes to the production and development of all titles; projects currently underway include an edition (digital) of a 17th-century Wampanoag vocabulary and an edition (printed) of the journal of 19th-century Boston reformer Caroline Healey Dall.

The Associate Editor will participate in all editorial and production tasks, including copyediting, verification, typesetting, proofreading, and communicating with vendors and authors. The Associate Editor will work closely with the Editor of Publications on project development and management, documentation of editorial standards, and coordination of the department’s responsibilities with the Society’s mission at large. The work requires an extreme attention to detail and a desire to collaborate with coworkers on work plans, problem-solving, and delivering the final product. Responsibilities may also include some supervision of interns/volunteers and assistance with inventory and distributor relationships. The successful candidate will be dedicated to producing work that meets the high standards set by the institution.

Requirements:

Bachelor’s degree in related humanities field.

Minimum of 3 years’ experience on a publishing team, including print production management and shepherding humanities text through the editorial process, shaping pieces for consistency and logic.

Demonstrated commitment to maintaining the highest level of quality in the production of scholarly resources and achieving accessibility for a general audience.

Experience with digital production tools (Adobe Creative Suite preferred).
Ability to provide constructive feedback to peers and to communicate effectively with colleagues, editors, authors, and vendors.

Effective planning and organizational skills with proven ability to analyze complex content, troubleshoot, and prioritize tasks.

Excellent command of grammar and style.

A knowledge of or sincere interest in Massachusetts or American history.

Ability to read cursive. Job applicants invited for an interview will be asked to take a short test to evaluate their ability to edit for syntax and may also be asked to take a transcription test.

Pluses:

Graduate degree in related humanities field or relevant professional degree.

Background in academic or cultural institutions, with extra points for transcribing text from archival materials.

Familiarity with XML and related languages.

Experience with graphic/book design.

To apply, please email cover letter, résumé, and names of three references by February 1, 2019, to pubs_job[at]masshist [dot]org. Address materials to Ondine Le Blanc, Editor of Publications, Publications Department, Massachusetts Historical Society.

Here it is: Greg Kofford Ebook Sale. Plural Marriage Revelation Book

TSDC:PMR ebook along with ALL 2018 Kofford ebook titles is on sale until the end of the year.
https://gregkofford.com/blogs/news/end-of-year-flash-sale-2018-titles-up-to-80-off?fbclid=IwAR2OQNA7mfnuB7fybO3Spx17zCIdDDJQRfhMRQMvw1Jv5hrBingzxqi-bbQ

The Church History Library Goes Viral!

See for yourself.

Job Announcement: Einstein Papers

The Einstein Papers Project is engaged in one of the most ambitious scholarly publishing ventures undertaken in the history of science. The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein provides the first complete picture of Einstein’s massive written legacy. The series now covers Einstein’s life and work up to his 48th birthday. It presents, as annotated full text, 484 writings by Einstein and 3,450 letters written by and to him. An additional 3,441 documents appear in abstract.

Online Archives: You can access the database (http://www.alberteinstein.info/index.html) of 90,000+ records of all known Einstein manuscripts and correspondence and also search the full text of 2,000 digitized items.

A position of Assistant or Associate Editor is open for the Einstein Project at California Institue of Technology. The salary and initial appointment as Assistant Editor or Associate Editor may be made at the research staff, postdoctoral scholar, or research assistant professor level, dependent on the final candidate’s qualifications. Postdoctoral and research assistant professor candidates must have a PhD degree in history or a related field. These are non-tenured, full-time, exempt, positions with benefits, though part-time employment may also be considered for staff positions. Preference would be given to candidates with expertise in the history and/or philosophy of 20th century physics or physical sciences, able to address Einstein’s scientific papers and correspondence for the period 1928-1932. Very good reading knowledge of written German is required. A Ph.D. degree in a pertinent field is strongly desired (history/philosophy of modern physics; physics; modern German history).

https://www.documentaryediting.org/wordpress/?p=4554

Book sale. 30% off.

I know you’ve all be waiting to buy my book on D&C 132 because you believe there will be some kind of excellent holiday deal. Well, you’re correct. If you order the book on December 1 or December 6, you’ll get 30% off. You have to buy it from http://www.gregkofford.com to get the deal. If you feel like giving it to your friends (or perhaps even enemies) too, you can pull off free shipping. Here’s the link:
https://gregkofford.com/…/p…/textual-studies-plural-marriage

Remember, the deal is only good on those two days. If you’re interested in an ebook instead, stay tuned for a sale on December 12.

New Joseph Smith Papers Bulletin

Latest from the Joseph Smith Papers here:

https://mailchi.mp/ldschurch/book-of-abraham-volume-now-available?e=e07d0d0a1f

Book of Abraham Manuscripts. Revelations and Translations Vol. 4 of the Joseph Smith Papers on the shelf.

[Cross-posted at By Common Consent]

A permanent identical “I” is a fiction—we are not what we believe ourselves to be—the truth is very different from what we are inclined to believe —-Derek Parfit [1]

The Book of Abraham has been both a puzzle and a sort of definition of ultimate reality. At least one such definition. The text of the book arises out of a milieu where many believed that Egypt like the Hebrew language (what many at the time thought of as a near descendant of the tongue of Eden) held answers to ultimate mysteries of self and time and being. Even though few Americans at least had any real notion of what things like hieroglyphics meant. When Michael Chandler brought his traveling mummy show to Kirtland, Ohio, Joseph Smith and a number of his friends saw deep value hidden in the artifacts and purchased them for a handsome sum even though they were already submerged in an expensive and daunting temple building project. In fits and starts through the last half of the year 1835 they (Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, William Phelps, and Warren Parrish) worked to construct some kind of logic that made sense of ancient writings found in the collection. These scrolls date from roughly the period of the book of Daniel (ca. 200 BCE) to the time of Christ (that is, the second temple period).

A Short History of D&C 132

I composed this short reception/textual history of D&C 132 when my book Textual Studies in the Doctrine and Covenants: The Plural Marriage Revelation. was published. I thought it might be useful for readers here.

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Papers of Jonathan Edwards flyer

JEC Call for Support

Papers of Martin Van Buren, Series 1.

Association for Documentary Editing has posted a note on the Cumberland University Martin Van Buren project, begun in February 2016. The work has many themes of tangential interest to Mormon Studies scholars. The project will digitally publish about 13,000 documents.

https://www.documentaryediting.org/wordpress/?p=4477

Weller’s Book Works April 14, 2018 Conversation about “The Plural Marriage Revelation” (D&C 132)

I’ll be at Weller’s Book Works at Trolley Square in Salt Lake City tonight at 7pm with religious studies scholar Cristina Rosetti talking about my book Textual Studies on the Doctrine and Covenants: The Plural Marriage Revelation. Drop by if you’re in the neighborhood!