C19, J19 and the Society of Nineteenth-Century Americanists

The University of Pennsylvania Press is a place where you can lose your soul. They publish journals like the Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies, the Journal of the Early Republic, Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft, The Jewish Quarterly Review, Early American Studies, The Eighteenth Century, Hispanic Review, and . . .  J19: The Journal of Nineteenth-Century Americanists.

Joseph Smith Papers Website Redesign

Check out the new format. Changes coming: better search functions and a coming quarterly release of documents. Remember, the printed volumes are scheduled to appear online two years after the volumes appear as hard copy. For a description, see here.

Church History Library: Foundations of Faith Exhibit

If you live within a reasonable distance of the Church History Library of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, take some time to visit the “Treasures from the Collection” exhibit there. If not, you can get a feel for the documents and objects here.

Visit RT’s draft of some fine criticism of 1 Sam. 1:1-4a.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/faithpromotingrumor/2014/12/a-prolegomena-to-a-reconstruction-of-the-literary-history-of-1-sam-11-41a-the-main-problems-and-issues/

RT on 1 Samuel 1:1-4a.

Christine Talbot: A Foreign Kingdom

Just getting around to this volume:

Christine Talbot, A Foreign Kingdom: Mormons and Polygamy in American Political Culture (Urbana, Chicago, Springfield: University of Illinois Press, 2013).

My only excuse is the business of this semester. I’ll be putting up a closer look later, maybe even a full-fledged review, who knows. For now, I recommend the book. It deploys theory in interesting ways to situate the public discussions of Utah Mormonism. More later.

Joseph Smith Papers Documents Vol. 3 Release Presentation

[Cross-posted at By Common Consent]

Ok, here I am on the fourth floor of the Church History Library. The official release date for Docs vol. 3 is today, but books arrived a week early, so you may have already purchased a copy. Waiting for the group to begin. The volume editors are here along with some media outlets and bloggers.

Gerrit Dirkmaat, Matt Grow

Gerrit talking about about the JSP. Printer’s manuscript of Book of Mormon to be published in the format of the Manuscript Revelation Books. The last of the Journals volumes will be released next year. This promises to be one of the more important volumes in the papers.

2016 Docs 4, Admin records series (Council of 50) first vol. in legal series.

JSPP website growing, 50,000 followers of the JSP on Facebook, 500 documents on Nauvoo period published. Search capabilities enhanced. A new version of the JSPP website will have pages for each published volume. About 100 new photos will be released today or the next few days. Within the next month or so the JSPP will release lesson plans for Religious Studies instructors at universities.

Presenters: Brent Rogers, Alison Palmer, Gerrit Derkmaat

Volume contents discuss Kirtland developments. Contemporary minutes of foundational events like school of the prophets (March 1833). Frederick G. Williams reporting on a shared vision by attendees. The volume details how almost simultaneously “the wheels come off” in Kirtland and Independence, largely because of gathering issues.

Plat of the city of Zion in Missouri. Plat was modified with names on lots, etc. over time.

Allison talking about typesetting the volume. Zion plat an example of problems displaying figures. The plat was divided into segments and parallel text transcripts are given. There are a considerable number of images that are treated similarly. Eventually color images of the various drawings and plats.

Brent Rogers, one of the volume editors is speaking about the personalities that appear in Docs 3. Letters from a variety of locations to Joseph Smith detail the leadership problems inherent in the expanding church. This was especially true for the upheavals in Zion. The church goals vs. realties are made very clear by the correspondence in the volume.

Volume editors discuss Vienna Jacques and her interaction with Joseph Smith, her contributions in Jackson County. See the BCC version for more.

New Content at the Joseph Smith Papers Website

The quarterly release of new document images includes the famous “Book of the Law of the Lord,” formerly housed in the First Presidency Vault. The release also has the 1843 correspondence between Joseph Smith and newspaper editor James Arlington Bennet.

New glossary entries and biographical descriptions appeared and 5 videos discussing accounts of the First Vision. For a more extensive catalog of the new material see JosephSmithPapers.org. Enjoy.