Without the assistance of numerous individuals and institutions, this publication would have been impossible. From the Wilford Wood Museum, Bountiful, Utah, we thank Wilford Cannon. From the University of Utah, we thank Alison Conner, Todd Samuelson, and Liz Rogers. From the University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center, we thank Daniel Meyer and Sem C. Sutter. From the Community of Christ Library-Archives, we thank Rachel Killebrew and Lachlan Mackay. We would also like to thank JaNae Cheney Nichols, Brent and Charlene Ashworth, and others for granting access to privately held portions of the original manuscript.
We wish to thank the administrators and officials of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, which sponsors the project, and the management and staff of the Church History Library, Salt Lake City, where the majority of Joseph Smith’s papers are located and where the project is centered. We express deepest appreciation to the Larry H. and Gail Miller Family Foundation. The Miller family’s continued commitment to making accessible the writings of Joseph Smith is a testament to their generosity and their firm belief in the importance of history.
The editorial and web staffs of the Joseph Smith Papers Project lent their talents and dedication to the creation of this volume. In addition to those named in the front matter of this volume we thank Petra Javadi-Evans, Kaytee Johnson, Catherine Reese Newton, Sharon E. Nielsen, Taylor Kalia Orr, and Naomi White. Research assistants also helped in the production of this volume; in particular, we thank Megan Sanderson for her careful assistance. The Joseph Smith Papers Project relies on the skills and dedication of employees and volunteers in the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We are grateful for the work of Jeff Anderson, Chad S. Barker, Christy L. Best, Audrey Spainhower Dunshee, Chad L. Foulger, David W. Grua, Michael Henry, Jason Loscher, Scott Marianno, Joan Nay, Reid L. Neilson, Alex D. Smith, and Richard E. Turley Jr. We are particularly grateful to Jeffrey D. Mahas, who assisted with textual work. We are also indebted to Grant Hardy, Joseph M. Spencer, and Colby Townsend for answering research queries.
We thank Jonathan Saltzman for his work presenting Royal Skousen’s transcript of the original manuscript and Steven W. Booras for photographing a fragment that had not been captured previously. Brent Ashworth, Sirkku Skousen, and Larry W. Draper all contributed to the editors’ understanding of the leaves acquired from the University of Chicago and of Mark Hofmann.
We express our thanks to Glenn N. Rowe and Brandon J. Metcalf, Church History Department, for their assistance. Special thanks goes to Tyler Thorsted, Zak Baker, Jeff Carter, Brian Simmons, Emiline Twitchell, and Katie Smith, who photographed or assisted in photographing the manuscript. Keith Beavers of the Publishing Services Department prepared the photographs for publication, and Ilya B. Reznik provided invaluable technical assistance in processing the images. We also thank Deborah Gates for administrative support. We are grateful to Debra Xavier Abercrombie and Ben Godfrey for their help in marketing the project and the volume.
We thank the management and staff at Deseret Book Company, Salt Lake City, for sharing their professional expertise in printing, distributing, and marketing this volume. We are particularly grateful to Sheri L. Dew, Laurel Christensen Day, Celia Barnes, Richard Erickson, Dave Kimball, and Shara Meredith.
Finally, we express our gratitude to our families. Much of this book was completed in the midst of a global pandemic, which put us in the somewhat unusual position of doing our professional work alongside our families for more than a year. Their support and good grace were integral to the creation of this volume.