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Egyptian Alphabet, circa Early July–circa November 1835–C

Source Note

Egyptian Alphabet, [
Kirtland Township

Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Latter-day Saint missionaries visited township, early Nov. 1830; many residents joined Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and...

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, Geauga Co., OH, ca. early July–ca. Nov. 1835]; English in the handwriting of
William W. Phelps

17 Feb. 1792–7 Mar. 1872. Writer, teacher, printer, newspaper editor, publisher, postmaster, lawyer. Born at Hanover, Morris Co., New Jersey. Son of Enon Phelps and Mehitabel Goldsmith. Moved to Homer, Cortland Co., New York, 1800. Married Sally Waterman,...

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and
Warren Parrish

10 Jan. 1803–3 Jan. 1877. Clergyman, gardener. Born in New York. Son of John Parrish and Ruth Farr. Married first Elizabeth (Betsey) Patten of Westmoreland Co., New Hampshire, ca. 1822. Lived at Alexandria, Jefferson Co., New York, 1830. Purchased land at...

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; hieratic and unknown characters in unidentified handwriting (likely Phelps); four pages; Kirtland Egyptian Papers, CHL. Includes archival markings.
Four leaves, each measuring 12⅜ × 7¾ inches (31 × 20 cm). Each leaf is ruled with about thirty-nine lines that are mostly faded. The second and third leaves bear matching irregularities in their cut, indicating they were at one point a single sheet that was then cut in two. Each leaf was inscribed on one side, while the other side was left blank. Phelps added the title “Egyptian Alphabet” to the first leaf. On the recto of each leaf, three hand-drawn, vertical lines divide the page into four columns of varying width. These lines were presumably drawn by
William W. Phelps

17 Feb. 1792–7 Mar. 1872. Writer, teacher, printer, newspaper editor, publisher, postmaster, lawyer. Born at Hanover, Morris Co., New Jersey. Son of Enon Phelps and Mehitabel Goldsmith. Moved to Homer, Cortland Co., New York, 1800. Married Sally Waterman,...

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, who wrote the headings for the columns. On the first leaf, Phelps added the column headings “Character”, “lett[e]r”, “Sound”, and “Explanation”. In addition to the title and these column headings, Phelps added the words “first degree” at the top of the first leaf. The headings and “first degree” appear to have been written at the same time. The title, “Egyptian Alphabet”, is written more deliberately, with broadly inscribed strokes and very little slope, which suggests that Phelps added it at a different time. On subsequent leaves, Phelps provided column headings only for the “character” and “sound” columns. The “character” column is consistently larger than needed, and the sound column is frequently too small for the lengthy words inscribed there. One horizontal line forms a rule on the first leaf, separating the first and second parts of the first degree. On subsequent leaves, parts are set off only by headings. Phelps also paginated each leaf on the upper right corner.
Following the production of this document, the four leaves were attached together with as many as three pins. Pinholes along the right side of the rectos of the leaves align with one another. Green oxidation and impressions from pinheads on the first leaf indicate it was placed first in this attached collection of leaves, suggesting that the leaves were arranged in the order in which they were paginated. Pinholes in the same location on the Egyptian Counting document indicate that document was attached to and stored with this one.
1

See Source Note for Egyptian Counting, ca. Early July–ca. Nov. 1835.


Significant staining is present on the left side of the recto of the first leaf; foxing, wear, and other staining are present throughout the leaves. By the late nineteenth or early twentieth century, most of the leaves of the Egyptian Alphabet documents were docketed in blue ink with letters of the alphabet from A through I and T through X. Egyptian Alphabet–C bears the letters C through F on the upper right corner of each recto side of the leaves. The handwriting in which this labeling is inscribed is similar to that of early-twentieth-century apostle James E. Talmage. This document was presumably stored with the Egyptian material mentioned in periodic inventories of the Historian’s Office, which suggests continuous institutional custody.
2

“Schedule of Church Records. Nauvoo 1846,” [1]; “Inventory. Historian’s Office. 4th. April 1855,” [1]; “Historian’s Office Inventory, G. S. L. City March 19, 1858,” [1]; “Historian’s Office Catalogue Book March 1858,” [7], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL; see also Historian’s Office, Journal, 17 Oct. 1855.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

Historian’s Office. Journal, 1844–1997. CHL. CR 100 1.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Source Note for Egyptian Counting, ca. Early July–ca. Nov. 1835.

  2. [2]

    “Schedule of Church Records. Nauvoo 1846,” [1]; “Inventory. Historian’s Office. 4th. April 1855,” [1]; “Historian’s Office Inventory, G. S. L. City March 19, 1858,” [1]; “Historian’s Office Catalogue Book March 1858,” [7], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL; see also Historian’s Office, Journal, 17 Oct. 1855.

    Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

    Historian’s Office. Journal, 1844–1997. CHL. CR 100 1.

Historical Introduction

Unlike the scribes of the other Egyptian Alphabet documents,
William W. Phelps

17 Feb. 1792–7 Mar. 1872. Writer, teacher, printer, newspaper editor, publisher, postmaster, lawyer. Born at Hanover, Morris Co., New Jersey. Son of Enon Phelps and Mehitabel Goldsmith. Moved to Homer, Cortland Co., New York, 1800. Married Sally Waterman,...

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apparently tried to anticipate how many pages he would need for his version. The four leaves of Egyptian Alphabet–C are of similar paper type and size, and the page numbers, number of columns, and size of columns for each leaf are fairly consistent. While Phelps may have designed the formatting of the columns from the beginning, he quickly moved past his original design. The “lett[e]r” column fell into almost immediate disuse. This change probably reflected the move away from an attempt to create a document that correlated ancient characters with modern English letters.
1

See “Egyptian Alphabet Documents, ca. Early July–ca. Nov. 1835.”


Eventually, Phelps stopped including data in the explanation column and then the sound column. The eventual focus was on copying the characters from the papyri onto this document.
Egyptian Alphabet–C was likely begun before the other versions, as evidenced by the consistent formatting of the document and the inclusion of the “lett[e]r” column. In many cases, the characters and definitions found at the beginning of the other Egyptian Alphabet versions appear to draw from those in Egyptian Alphabet–C.
See also Introduction to Egyptian Alphabet Documents, ca. Early July–ca. Nov. 1835.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See “Egyptian Alphabet Documents, ca. Early July–ca. Nov. 1835.”

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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Egyptian Alphabet, circa Early July–circa November 1835–C
ID #
8101
Total Pages
8
Print Volume Location
JSP, R4:85–93
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