Footnotes
JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1841 and 21 Dec. 1842; Orson Spencer, “Death of Our Beloved Brother Willard Richards,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 16 Mar. 1854, [2].
Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.
Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 456, 458; Woodruff, Journal, 22 Jan. 1865.
Jessee, Dean C. “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History.” BYU Studies 11 (Summer 1971): 439–473.
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
“Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [3], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.
Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.
See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.
Footnotes
Letter from James Arlington Bennet, 24 Oct. 1843, underlining in original.
JS, Journal, 9 and 13 Nov. 1843. In a December letter to Bennet, Willard Richards stated that “the Generals reply was dictated.” (Willard Richards, Nauvoo, IL, to James Arlington Bennet, Arlington House, Long Island, NY, 15 Dec. 1843, copy, Willard Richards, Journals and Papers, CHL.)
Richards, Willard. Journals and Papers, 1821–1854. CHL.
Willard Richards, Nauvoo, IL, to James Arlington Bennet, Arlington House, Long Island, NY, 15 Dec. 1843, copy, Willard Richards, Journals and Papers, CHL; see also James Arlington Bennet, Arlington House, Long Island, NY, to Willard Richards, [Nauvoo, IL], 1 Feb. 1844, Willard Richards, Journals and Papers, CHL.
Richards, Willard. Journals and Papers, 1821–1854. CHL.
JS and his associates, including Phelps, had demonstrated an enduring interest in ancient languages for well over a decade. About a week after this letter was mailed, JS and Phelps collaborated on a pamphlet addressed to Vermont’s Green Mountain Boys that also included a variety of phrases in foreign languages with corresponding translations. (“Part 1: 2 October–1 December 1835”; “Book of Abraham and Related Manuscripts”; General Joseph Smith’s Appeal to the Green Mountain Boys, ca. 21 Nov.–3 Dec. 1843.)
“Letter from Joe Smith,” New-York Commercial Advertiser (New York City), 7 Dec. 1843, [2]. When the newspaper printed JS’s 13 November 1843 response, the editor informed readers that the printers were instructed to “‘follow copy’ in every particular—to make no change, even of a letter or a comma.” The editor’s preface to the letter mocked, “The prophet’s missive is a strange specimen of mingled shrewdness, ignorance, impudence and folly—the latter quality being chiefly manifested in the fact that the letter has been written. It is not cunning of Joe to lay himself out on paper; for surely a man of his divine pretensions should be able to spell and to write grammatically.”
New-York Commercial Advertiser. New York City. 1831–1889.
“For the Times and Seasons,” Times and Seasons, 1 Nov. 1843, 4:371–375; “Singular Mormon Movements,” New York Herald (New York City), 10 Jan. 1844, [1]; “Letter from Joe Smith,” New-York Spectator (New York City), 9 Dec. 1843, [1]; “The Mormons,” Niles’ National Register (Baltimore), 3 Feb. 1844, 355–356. The Times and Seasons published its November 1843 issue around late December 1843.
New-York Spectator. New York City. 1804–1867.
Niles’ National Register. Washington DC, 1837–1839; Baltimore, 1839–1848; Philadelphia, 1848–1849.
TEXT: William W. Phelps left a space for the day, which Willard Richards, or possibly Thomas Bullock, later inserted.
See John 15:13.
In nineteenth-century parlance, the word divine often referred to a clergyman or minister of the gospel. The phrase philosophical divine described a person who attempted to bridge the gap between philosophy and theology—that is, a religious philosopher. (“Divine” [noun], in American Dictionary [1841], 1:531; see also “Theology,” in Encyclopaedia Britannica [1842], 21:211; Schaff, Germany; Its Universities, Theology, and Religion, 92; and Allibone, Critical Dictionary of English Literature, 314.)
An American Dictionary of the English Language; First Edition in Octavo, Containing the Whole Vocabulary of the Quarto, with Corrections, Improvements and Several Thousand Additional Words. . . . Edited by Noah Webster. 2nd ed. 2 vols. New Haven: By the author, 1841.
Encyclopaedia Britannica. 6th ed. vol. 6. Edinburgh: Archibald Constable and Company, 1823.
Schaff, Philip. Germany; Its Universities, Theology, and Religion. . . . Philadelphia: Lindsay and Blakiston; New York: Sheldon, Blakeman, 1857.
Allibone, S. Austin. A Critical Dictionary of English Literature, and British and American Authors, Living and Deceased, from the Earliest Accounts to the Middle of the Nineteenth Century. Containing Thirty Thousand Biographies and Literary Notices, with Forty Indexes of Subjects. Vol. 1. Philadelphia: Childs and Peterson, 1859.
In the version of the letter printed in the Nauvoo Neighbor, the word “seminar” was rendered as “seminaries.” (“For the Neighbor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 6 Dec. 1843, [3].)
See 2 Timothy 3:5.
See 1 Corinthians 1:19.
In the version of the letter printed in the Nauvoo Neighbor, the word “spoil” was changed to “avail.” (“For the Neighbor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 6 Dec. 1843, [3].)