Monthly Archives: December 2014

Happy Boxing Day! New Release: History of the Church vol. 3

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History of the Church vol. 3 is now available as a free e-book on Project Gutenberg! Obviously, HotC is a big deal, and we’ll just let it stand at that. (Unless you have some strange desire to read only about the 1838-39 window of Church history, you really ought to start with vol. 1, and if you’ve already read vol. 1 and 2 you probably don’t need an introduction to 3, so no further commentary at this time.)

It was proofed and produced by our excellent BYU research assistant Mariah Averett, thanks to donor support for her position.

New Release: “Wilford Woodruff,” a biography written from his journals

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If you’ve always wanted to read Wilford Woodruff’s journal but can’t afford ~$4k for the out of print nine-volume typescript edition, this is your best bet. Wilford Woodruff: History of his Life and Labors as Recorded in his Daily Journals, was written by Elder Matthias F. Cowley of the Twelve based on, and excerpting heavily from, Woodruff’s famous journals. It’s awesome. Get the free e-book on Project Gutenberg.

If you’re not sold yet, here’s the pitch: Wilford Woodruff’s life would be eminently worth reading about on its own account, and he also happened to be present for most of the important Church history events during his lifetime. This book thus reads like a combination biography/general history of the Church to 1890, and we get to read about much of that period in Wilford Woodruff’s own words. We hear about everything from baptizing hundreds to near-death experiences to the original pioneer journey to the Salt Lake Valley.

If that doesn’t sound interesting, I’m not sure what would. It would take a week of daily posting to do justice to my stack of excerpts, and they may get just that. But for now, go to Project Gutenberg, read the Preface, and try not to be intrigued.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Our gift to you–three new (free) book releases!

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Thanks to some great work by our volunteers, President Heber C. Kimball’s Journal (Faith-Promoting Series book #7), Precious Memories (Faith-Promoting Series book #16), and Cowley’s Talks on Doctrine by Matthias F. Cowley are now up on Project Gutenberg.

Heber C. Kimball was a member of the original Quorum of the Twelve, member of Brigham Young’s First Presidency, President of the British Mission, etc., so his journal is naturally of interest. Precious Memories, like various other books in the Faith-Promoting Series, is an anthology of missionary and other stories targeted at the youth of the Church; anyone who’s read anything in the series will probably understand our enthusiasm for it. Finally, Matthias F. Cowley was a member of the Twelve, and Ben E. Rich, the noted mission president and publisher, liked his talks so much that he published the just-released compilation for use in a missionary context.

As you can see, although December’s been slow for the blog, the project’s work has been moving along well. Several big projects are right on the brink of completion; keep your eyes out for more holiday surprises and an annual report.

Merry Christmas and happy reading!