The Joseph Smith Papers website is the official site of The Joseph Smith Papers, a comprehensive edition of extant Joseph Smith documents featuring complete and accurate transcription with both textual and contextual annotation.
When completed, The Joseph Smith Papers will consist of more than 30 published volumes within six series (journals, documents, revelations and translations, history, legal and business records, and administrative records). They will present the earliest handwritten and published texts of the foundational documents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including Joseph Smith’s revelations and translations. The Papers will provide insights into Joseph’s life and times through his correspondence, journals, discourses, court cases, and business dealings. In addition, the Papers will contain minutes of important church councils, reproductions of the scriptural canon as it existed during Joseph Smith’s lifetime, official histories, and records pertaining to church institutions that were under Joseph Smith’s direction or that reflect his personal instruction and involvement.
This publication of an essential resource for scholars and serious students of the life and work of Joseph Smith, early Mormonism, and nineteenth-century American religion.
With the Papers’ publication, readers will have, for the first time in one place, access to these essential primary documents.
Why people should visit The Joseph Smith Papers site:
The site provides sample documents featured in current and future volumes. The site also provides reference materials that are not available in the printed publications. For instance, the Web site features biographical and geographical indexes of important people and places in Joseph Smith’s life. Visitors can also view a timeline of Joseph life. Whether or not you own the published volume, these materials can be resources for any student of Joseph Smith’s life or early Mormonism. For those who have purchased the first volume of The Joseph Smith Papers, there is an exhaustive index for that volume available on the site as well. In addition, the site offers three key essays on Joseph Smith, as written by volume editors.
The site gives visitors a better understanding of the project, such as information about the objective and scope of the project, intended content of future volumes, the credentials of the scholars and professional working on the Joseph Smith Papers, and a description of the project itself. Sample digital images give visitors a “taste” of the original documents as they will be treated in the project.
The site is updated regularlywith information on the publishing schedule of upcoming volumes. The News and Reviews section of the site highlights newsworthy items about the project, as well as recent awards and reviews given to the volumes of the project. Future upgrades to the site will add additional documents, reference materials, and essays, all in searchable formats.
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