Brent M. Rogers - The Joseph Smith Papers: Documents, Volume 5: October 1835 - January 1838

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Art direction: Richard Erickson.
Cover design: Scott Eggers. Interior design: Richard Erickson and Scott M. Mooy.
Typography: Carolyn Call.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

volumes cm (The Joseph Smith papers)
Planned publication in 12 volumes.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-60907-577-4 (hardbound: alk. paper; v. 1)
ISBN 978-1-60907-598-9 (hardbound: alk. paper; v. 2)
ISBN 978-1-60907-987-1 (hardbound: alk. paper; v. 3)
ISBN 978-1-62972-174-3 (hardbound: alk. paper; v. 4)
ISBN 978-1-62972-312-9 (hardbound: alk. paper; v. 5)
1. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsHistory19th centurySources. 2. Mormon ChurchHistorySources. I. Jessee, Dean C., editor. II. Esplin, Ronald K., editor. III. Bushman, Richard L., editor. IV. Grow, Matthew J., editor. V. Smith, Joseph, Jr., 18051844. VI. Series: Smith, Joseph, Jr., 18051844. Joseph Smith papers.
BX8611.D63 2014 289.309034dc23 2013017521

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Corresponding Section Numbers in Editions of the Doctrine and Covenants

The Book of Commandments, of which a number of partial copies were printed in 1833, was superseded by the Doctrine and Covenants. Because the numbering of comparable material in the Book of Commandments and different editions of the Doctrine and Covenants varies extensively, the following table is provided to help readers refer from the version of a canonized item cited in this volume to other published versions of that same item. This table includes revelations announced by JSplus letters, records of visions, articles, minutes, and other items, some of which were authored by other individualsthat were published in the Book of Commandments or Doctrine and Covenants in or before 1844, the year of JSs death. The table also includes material originating with JS that was first published in the Doctrine and Covenants after 1844. Such later-canonized material includes, for example, extracts of JSs 20 March 1839 letter written from the jail in Liberty, Missouri. These extracts, first canonized in 1876, are currently found in sections 121 through 123 of the Latter-day Saint edition of the Doctrine and Covenants.

The 1835 and 1844 editions of the Doctrine and Covenants included a series of lectures on the subject of faith, which constituted part 1 of the volume. Only part 2, the compilation of revelations and other items, is represented in the table. Further, the table does not include materials originating with JS that were not canonized in his lifetime and that have never been canonized by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or by the Community of Christ. As only one of many examples, JSs journal entry for 3 November 1835 contains a JS revelation concerning the Twelve. This revelation has never been canonized and therefore does not appear in the table. More information about documents not listed on the table below will be provided in other volumes of The Joseph Smith Papers and on the Joseph Smith Papers website, josephsmithpapers.org.

Some material was significantly revised after its initial publication in the canon. For instance, the revelation in chapter 28 of the Book of Commandments included twice as much material when it was republished in the Doctrine and Covenants in 1835. As another example, chapter 65 of the Book of Commandments stops abruptly before the end of the revelation because publication of the volume was disrupted; the revelation was not published in its entirety until 1835. These and other substantial changes of greater or lesser significance are not accounted for in the table, but they will be identified in the appropriate volumes of the Documents series.

The far left column of the table gives the standard date of each item, based on careful study of original sources. The standard date is the date a revelation was originally dictated or recorded. If that date is ambiguous or unknown, the standard date is the best approximation of the date, based on existing evidence. The standard date provides a way to identify each item and situate it chronologically with other documents, but it cannot be assumed that every date corresponds to the day an item was first dictated or recorded. In some cases, an item was recorded without a date notation. It is also possible that a few items were first dictated on a date other than the date surviving manuscripts bear. The dates found in this table were assigned based on all available evidence, including later attempts by JS and his contemporaries to recover date, place, and circumstances.

Where surviving sources provide conflicting information about dating, editorial judgment has been exercised to select the most likely date (occasionally only an approximate month), based on the most reliable sources. In cases in which two or more items bear the same date, they have been listed in the order in which they most likely originated, and a letter of the alphabet has been appended, providing each item a unique editorial title (for example, May 1829A or May 1829B). Information on dating issues will accompany publication of these items in the Documents series.

The remaining five columns on the table provide the number of the chapter (in the case of the Book of Commandments) or section (in the case of editions of the Doctrine and Covenants) in which the item was published in one or more of five different canonical editions, the first three of which were initiated by JS. Full bibliographic information about these five editions is given in the list of works cited. See also the Scriptural References section in the introduction to Works Cited for more information about the origins of the Doctrine and Covenants and other Mormon scriptures.

View PDF of chart here: http://bit.ly/1q4KxLC

Key to column titles

1833: Book of Commandments

1835: Doctrine and Covenants, 1835 edition, part 2

1844: Doctrine and Covenants, 1844 edition, part 2

2004: Doctrine and Covenants, 2004 edition, Community of Christ

2013: Doctrine and Covenants, 2013 edition, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

JS-Era Canon in gray