Publications
See this page in the original 1992 publication.
Author: Draper, Larry W.
From its inception in 1830, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been a diverse and prolific publisher of the printed word. The varied publications have included scriptures, doctrinal treatises, missionary tracts, newspapers, magazines, histories, accounts of persecutions and petitions for redress, proclamations and warnings to the world, hymnals and books of poetry, and replies to anti-Mormon attacks. While the history of the Mormon press is unique, it does fit into the context of American religious printing in general. The period from 1800 to 1865 saw the printing of religious literature in America reach a high point-the result of the Second Great Awakening and the activities of various interdenominational Bible and tract societies. It was in this environment of vigorous printing activity that the Church emerged and grew.
Church publishing in the years 1830-1844 is best described as informal and quasi-official because the Prophet Joseph Smith was occupied with more pressing concerns and left much of the business of printing and disseminating literature to others. After 1844, President Brigham Young and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles assumed more control over Church publishing. As the main body of Saints made their permanent move to the Great Basin (1846-1852), the responsibility for publishing Church literature moved to Great Britain until the late 1870s because of the unavailability of suitable presses and inexpensive paper in the intermountain area.
SCRIPTURES. To Latter-day Saints, the most important publications are the four standard works of scripture: the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price. As Christians, Latter-day Saints accept the Holy Bible as sacred scripture from God (the Church endorses the King James Version for English-speaking members). However, they get their popular nickname, Mormons, from their acceptance of the Book of Mormon as additional scripture from God. Since its first printing (New York, 1830), the Book of Mormon has had scores of editions published in many languages. Subsequent English-language editions of significance include those printed in Kirtland, Ohio, 1837; Nauvoo, Illinois, 1840; Liverpool, England, 1841, and 1879; and Salt Lake City, Utah, 1871, 1920, and 1981.
The Doctrine and Covenants contains most of the important recorded revelations received by Joseph Smith. Many of these first appeared in the Church's early newspapers, the evening and the morning star (Independence, Missouri, 1832-1833) and Latter Day Saints' messenger and advocate (Kirtland, 1834-1838). The first collection of the revelations was to be published as the book of commandments (Independence, 1833). But the press was destroyed by a mob before the printing was completed, and a fuller collection was published in Kirtland, as the Doctrine and Covenants, in 1835 by the Kirtland Literary Firm (cf. D&C 72:20-21), the publications committee apparently then in charge of Church publications in Kirtland. Later editions of the Doctrine and Covenants were published in Nauvoo, 1844; Liverpool, 1845, 1879; and Salt Lake City, 1876, 1908, 1918, 1921, and 1981.
The fourth volume of LDS scripture is a compilation entitled the Pearl of Great Price, published first in Liverpool in 1851, with other editions printed in Liverpool in 1879 and in Salt Lake City in 1878, 1902, 1921, 1976, and 1981.
PERIODICALS. Periodical literature has been used extensively by Church leaders to disseminate information to members. Early on, it was the pattern to publish two papers, one religious and the other secular. The first of these pairs, The Evening and The Morning Star and the Upper Missouri Advertiser, commenced publication in Independence, Missouri, in June 1832. The Star was printed monthly to provide members of the Church with appropriate reading material and included the text of many of the revelations given to the Prophet Joseph Smith. The Advertiser was a weekly single-sheet paper intended for the community. Both were printed from June 1832 to July 1833, when the press at Independence was destroyed. Other early periodicals include Latter-day Saints' Messenger and Advocate (Kirtland, Ohio, 1834-1837) and Northern Times (Kirtland, c. 1835-1836); Elders' Journal of the Church of Latter Day Saints (Kirtland, Ohio, and Far West, Missouri, 1837-1838); Times and Seasons (Nauvoo, 1839-1846) and the Wasp (1842-1843), which was replaced by Nauvoo Neighbor (1843-1846).
The longest-published periodical was the Millennial Star (full name, Latter Day Saints' Millennial Star, Manchester, Liverpool, and London, England, 1840-1970). First issued for the fast-growing British membership, it later served American Saints as the most substantial Church periodical between their Nauvoo exodus in 1846 and the commencement of the weekly newspaper Deseret news (Salt Lake City, 1850-); from 1850 to 1971, it continued as a substantial missionary periodical read worldwide. Another important periodical printed in England, journal of discourses (Liverpool, 1854-1886), provided Latter-day Saints on both sides of the Atlantic with reports of sermons given at several places, including the Church's semiannual general conferences. After the Church formally announced the practice of plural marriage in 1852, President Brigham Young assigned different brethren to establish periodicals in the large cities to counter the increased attacks on the Church that resulted from that announcement. The following journals were responses to his request: The Seer (Orson Pratt, ed., Washington, D.C., 1853-1854); St. Louis Luminary (Erastus Snow, ed., 1854-1855); The Mormon (John Taylor, ed., New York, 1855-1857); and The Western Standard (George Q. Cannon, ed., San Francisco, 1856-1857). Much of what would eventually be published in book or pamphlet form was first issued in one of these journals.
After the Church became established in Utah Territory, other periodicals (issued from Salt Lake City unless otherwise noted) included: Juvenile Instructor (1866-1929), which became The Instructor (1929-1970); Contributor (1879-1896); Young Woman's Journal (1889-1929); Improvement Era (1897-1970); The Elders' Journal (Chattanooga, Tennessee, 1903-1907), which became Liahona the Elders' Journal (Independence, 1907-1945); Children's Friend (1902-70); Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine (1910-1940); and Relief Society Magazine (1915-1970).
As the Church expanded into other lands, its missions often established periodicals in their respective languages. The earliest was the Welsh Prophwyd y Jubili (1846-1848), and the longest running was the Danish Skandinaviens Stjerne (1851-1956). Other early journals were Der Stern (German, 1869-), Nordstjärnan (Swedish, 1877-), and De Ster (Dutch, 1896-).
Current English language periodicals include three monthly magazines (published since 1971): Ensign, for adults (over 18); New Era, for young adults and youth (ages 12 to 18); and Friend, for children (to 12). Selected articles from these periodicals are gathered into International Magazines, which in 1990 was printed with local additions in some twenty non-English languages. BYU Studies (1959-), a scholarly quarterly, is produced at Brigham Young University. (For a fuller list of most of the major LDS periodicals, see Magazines.)
DOCTRINAL WORKS. Following the formal organization of the Church on April 6, 1830, a rigorous missionary effort began that ultimately became the impetus for much early publishing in the Church. The successes of a number of Protestant tract societies in early nineteenth-century England and America provided LDS writers an effective model for disseminating the restored gospel through the printed word. A sizable portion of early LDS printing took the form of doctrinal and missionary tracts and pamphlets.
Early influential tracts of a doctrinal nature included Orson Hyde's A Prophetic Warning to All the Churches, of Every Sect and Denomination, published in Canada in 1836. Although only a short treatise, this broadside was the first tract to be used for proselytizing purposes. Elder Hyde, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, suggested that the Christian world must prepare for the second coming of the Savior. He asserted the LDS claim that the New Testament prophecy of future apostasy from primitive Christianity had already occurred and that men and women need baptism performed by someone with proper authority from Jesus Christ.
Other early doctrinal works were written by several LDS writers. The Church's most notable early author was Parley P. Pratt, also an apostle, whose A Voice of Warning (New York, 1837) was arguably the most influential nineteenth-century nonscriptural book of LDS literature. Its descriptions of the unique doctrines of the Church would be repeated and imitated by others in many publications that followed. He also produced Mormonism Unveiled (New York, 1838), the first LDS tract responding to anti-Mormon criticisms; The Millennium and Other Poems (New York, 1840), a book of poetry expressing LDS ideas; and Key to the Science of Theology (Liverpool, 1855), the first comprehensive treatment of the doctrines of the Church.
Another writer who made significant doctrinal contributions in print was Orson Pratt, Parley's younger brother, also an apostle, whose important tracts include A[n] Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions (Edinburgh, Scotland, 1840); A Series of Sixteen Pamphlets (Liverpool, 1851) containing sixteen doctrinal tracts which formed a book later published under the title Orson Pratt's Works (1945); and a second series of tracts [Eight Pamphlets on the First Principles of the Gospel ] (Liverpool, 1856-1857).
Yet other important early doctrinal works include Lorenzo Snow's The Only Way To Be Saved (London, 1841); Orson Spencer's Correspondence Between the Rev. W. Crowel, A.M., and O. Spencer, B.A. (Liverpool, 1847), later known as Spencer's Letters; and Franklin D. Richards's A Compendium of the Faith and Doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (London, 1857).
Examples of influential doctrinal works from the twentieth century include James E. Talmage's Articles of Faith (1899) and Jesus the Christ (1915), B. H. Roberts' Seventy's Course in Theology (5 volumes, 1907-1912), Joseph Fielding Smith's compilation Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith (1938) and Doctrines of Salvation (3 volumes, 1954-1956), Bruce R. McConkie's Mormon Doctrine (1958), and Spencer W. Kimball's Miracle of Forgiveness (1969).
HISTORICAL WORKS. During the Church's early years, Latter-day Saints experienced intense and extensive religious persecutions, which resulted in forced moves for the entire Church on several occasions. Important published histories that document the Saints' difficulties in Missouri include John P. Greene's Facts Relative to the Expulsion of the Mormons or Latter Day Saints, from the State of Missouri (Cincinnati, 1839); Parley P. Pratt's Late Persecution of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Detroit, 1839; enlarged ed., New York, 1840); and Sidney Rigdon's An Appeal to the American People (Cincinnati, 1840). In Illinois the persecutions continued, culminating in the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum. An important history of that dark day is William M. Daniels' A Correct Account of the Murder of Generals Joseph and Hyrum Smith, at Carthage (Nauvoo, 1845). Other nineteenth-century histories of note include Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet (Liverpool, 1853), by Joseph's mother, Lucy Mack Smith, and The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt (New York, 1874).
Significant historical works published in the twentieth century include the seven-volume History of the Church (1901-1932, formerly referred to as the Documentary History of the Church), edited by B. H. Roberts, and his six-volume A Comprehensive History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (1930); Joseph Fielding Smith's Essentials in Church History (1922); John Henry Evans' Joseph Smith, an American Prophet (1933); Leonard J. Arrington's Great Basin Kingdom (1958); and James B. Allen and Glen M. Leonard's The Story of the Latter-day Saints (1976). The years 1960-1990 saw a virtual explosion of monographs and professional journal articles documenting the History of the Church. This same period saw the publication of several independent, non-Church periodicals, including Dialogue (1966-), Journal of Mormon History (1974-), Sunstone (1975-), and This People (1979-).
HYMNALS. Music and hymns have always been an important part of Latter-day Saint worship services. As early as July 1830, Emma Smith was instructed to select a group of hymns for publication. The first LDS hymnal, though dated 1835, was not published until March 1836 in Kirtland. Entitled A Collection of Sacred Hymns, for the Church of the Latter Day Saints, this first hymnal, that printed the texts of the hymns without music, served as a model for several subsequent editions compiled by Church members. Another early hymnal was the first British edition, A Collection of Sacred Hymns, for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in Europe, Selected by Brigham Young, Parley P. Pratt, and John Taylor (Manchester, 1840). This hymnal was the basis for more than a dozen subsequent editions. Other significant hymnals include the first Salt Lake City edition (1871), the first edition to add music to the texts (Salt Lake City, 1889), and revised editions in 1927 and 1948. The current 1985 edition was a major revision of the Church's hymnal.
OTHER PUBLICATIONS. The Church has also issued almanacs printed independently from 1845-1866, and by the Church since 1974. The Church also printed emigrant guidebooks, a multivolume biographical encyclopedia, and many historical works.
CURRENT PUBLICATIONS. In addition to official publications such as scriptures, hymnals, and monthly periodicals, the Church produces a large body of educational curriculum material, including instructional manuals for the study of the scriptures, doctrine, and Church history for all organizations within the Church-the priesthood, Relief Society, Sunday School, Young Men, Young Women, and Primary. The Church Education System produces materials for use in the secondary school seminaries and college and university institutes of religion.
In addition, numerous independent publishers serve the LDS market.
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z