Joseph Smith Papers Book Signing – October 1

Benchmark Books of Salt Lake City is sponsoring an Evening with the Editors of the newest volume from the Joseph Smith Papers: Revelations and Translations, Manuscript Revelation Books, edited by Robin Scott Jensen, Robert J. Woodford, and Steven C. Harper, published by The Church Historian’s Press, 2009.

Two of the volume editors will be speaking about the Joseph Smith Papers project and this volume in particular during Evening with the Editors
Thursday, October 1, 2009
5:30 – 8:30 PM
Columbus Center*
2531 South 400 East
South Salt Lake
See Mapthis special book signing event. Due to the large number of people expected to attend, this event will NOT be held at Benchmark Books. The editors will speak at 6:00 and answer questions from the audience, signing books before and after that time.

This new volume is the second overall in the Joseph Smith Papers, but is the first of the Revelations and Translation series which will
provide transcripts of many of the earliest manuscripts of Joseph Smith’s written revelations and translations, together with reproductions of editions of these documents that were published during his lifetime. This oversize book (707 pp., 9” x 12,” weighing 8 pounds!) contains, for the first time ever, the full texts of the original manuscript books, “Book of Commandments and Revelations” and “Book of Revelations” (more commonly called the “Kirtland Revelation Book”), now renamed “Revelation Book 1” and “Revelation Book 2.” They are presented in their entirety in full color facsimiles of the original documents, as they appear today, with complete transcriptions in parallel columns. These manuscripts served as most of the original source material for the earliest publications of Joseph Smith’s revelations in The Evening and the Morning Star, the 1833 A Book of Commandments, and 1835 Doctrine and Covenants, and in most cases, are the earliest extant revelation texts. The facsimiles clearly show the manuscripts and all corrections and revisions of any kind made to them, and the editors identify the handwriting of the various scribes. Introductions to the series and this volume provide helpful background information on how Joseph Smith received the original revelations and how they were recorded, transcribed, compiled, and finally published.

James H. Hutson, Chief of Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, calls this volume “a model of documentary editorial practices. . . . Other Relevant Links
JosephSmithPapers.org
Robin Jensen on JSP @BCCThe editors have taken pains to present the subject matter with objectivity, with the result that the volume will be a valuable resource for non-Mormon scholars and readers as well as for Joseph Smith’s present followers and admirers.” Philip Barlow, Professor of Mormon History and Culture at Utah State University, notes that “in certain respects this is analogous to our hypothetically gaining access to copies of first-century versions of the earliest biblical manuscripts. With the appearance of this new volume, serious students of the Mormon prophet and of Mormon scripture are more free than ever before to contemplate the development of the revelations’ composition and publication.”

For more information, contact Benchmark directly:

BENCHMARK BOOKS
3269 So. Main Street, Suite 250
Salt Lake City, UT 84115
Phone: 800-486-3112, (801) 486-3111
[email protected]

*The Columbus Center (adjoining the Columbus Branch Library) can best be reached by going east on 2700 So. (entering from State Street) to 400 East and turning left (north), parking in the large parking lot at 2531, just west of the Columbus Center. Enter the west door, walk down the hall, turn left and enter the auditorium on your left.