The seventeen books of the Faith-Promoting Series, published between 1879 and 1915 by George Q. Cannon and George C. Lambert and “Designed for the Instruction and Encouragement of Young Latter-day Saints,” are now all available as free e-books on Project Gutenberg. They are easy reads, mostly at about 100 pages each, that are mostly organized as collections of short accounts. Collectively, they form a whole library of short nonfiction on the early church.
They discuss missionary work, the early days of the Church, the pioneer experience, early Utah, apologetic themes, faith-promoting incidents, and so forth. For missionary work alone, they contain accounts of early efforts in Hawaii (#1), the American west (#2, #5), England (#7, #8, #12, #13), New Zealand (#14), and Switzerland (#10), to name a few. Much of the content is autobiographical, including material by John Taylor (#2), Newel Knight (#10), Wilford Woodruff (#3), George Q. Cannon (#1), and Heber C. Kimball (#7). Doesn’t take a PhD to realize that these are big names and big events, and that’s just a random sampling of surface-scratching.
We’ve already published some commentary on several of these books if you’re wondering where to start, but anywhere is good. Without further ado, the list:
- My First Mission by George Q. Cannon
- A String of Pearls
- Leaves from My Journal by Wilford Woodruff
- Gems for the Young Folk
- Jacob Hamblin by James A. Little
- Fragments of Experience
- President Heber C. Kimball’s Journal
- Early Scenes in Church History
- The Life of Nephi by George Q. Cannon
- Scraps of Biography
- The Myth of the “Manuscript Found” by George Reynolds
- Labors in the Vineyard
- Eventful Narratives
- Helpful Visions
- Treasures in Heaven
- Precious Memories
- Gems of Reminiscence
Thanks again to the many MTP interns and volunteers who have worked on these books! Allie Bowen and Margaret Willden, MTP interns, finished the set with their work on #6 and #15 respectively.
What a great set this is. Thank you and the volunteers for all the hard work.
Would it be possible to zip all these up for easy access, and to keep on the fair side of PG’s downloading limits? That would be appreciated. Thank you so much!
Thanks, and good idea! Just posted a .zip of the Kindle versions.
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Where can I buy these books? Would love these for my library. Thanks.
The links in the post will take you to free e-books of them. If you want hard copies, that might be a bit of a challenge as they have mostly been out of print for around a century, but I’m sure copies show up on Ebay. Hope this helps!
I am selling of some of my collection of books and have a number of these original volumes available. If you are interested, please contact me at: sdbarker@mormonmemorabilia.com. I will supply you with a list of what I have, their condition and photos if needed.
I would love to know what all you have!
Natalie,
I have the following available:
My First Mission
1882 No. 1
2nd Greenish cloth on boards/Very Fine/Silver stamped title on cover/blind stamped decorations/owners stamped name on flyleaf
Valued at: $150
Asking: $125
Fragments of Experience – 1882 No. 6
1st Blue cloth on boards/Gold stamped name on cover/blind stamped decoration/ owners name stamped on flyleaf/good +/
Valued at: $100
Asking: $ 70
H. C. Kimball’s Journal
1882 No. 7
1st Dk. Greenish Blue cloth on boards/hinges loose but intact/some staining on bottom edge of some pages/bumped & worn corners/
Valued at: $79
Asking: $55
Early Scenes in Church History – 1882 No. 8
1st Black cloth on boards/loose hinges, but intact/shelf wear and bumped corners/ some staining on front cover/faded gold title/blind stamped decoration
Valued at: $75
Asking: $60
The Life of Nephi -1883 No. 9
1st Blue cloth on boards/Gold title on cover/blind stamped decoration/ minor bumping and wear on cover
Valued at: $90
Asking: $80
Scraps of Biiography
1883 No. 10
1st Brown cloth on boards/former library copy with some shelf wear/corners mildly bumped/former owner paste down inside from cover/former owner blind stamp on flyleaf/covers decorative blind stamped/
Valued at: $70
Asking: $60
Myth of the Manuscript Found – 1883 No. 11
1st Brown cloth on boards/cloth torn across upper part of front cover/shelf wear/Gold stamped title/front & back hinges mildly loose/owner signature inside front cover and blind stamped on flyleaf
Valued at: $50
Asking: $40
Labors in the Vineyard
1884 No. 12
1st Black cloth on boards/silver stamped title on cover/blind stamped design/VF-/ small 1 ¼” tear on inside front hinge, otherwise very tight and in almost new condition
Valued at: $50
Asking: $45
Helpful Visions -1887 No. 13
1st Black cloth on boards/Gold stamped title on cover/blind stamped design, front and back covers/some pages loose, but intact/
Valued at: $70
Asking: $60
Treasures in Heaven
1914 No.15
1st Black cloth on boards/Silver stamped title on cover/blind stamped on front and back covers/A couple of loose pages, but intact, otherwise Very Good +
Valued at: $100
Asking: $85
Precious Memories
1914 No. 16
1st Pea green cloth on boards/ex lib/some water staining on front and back covers/ quite rare/tight with a couple of very small tears/
Valued at: $600
Asking: $500
Faith Promoting Series Total: Valued at: $1434 Asking: $1180
The valued at amounts are based on careful comparative analysis on values found online.
I have made no real effort to sell any of my collection since mention of it here (I had even forgotten this posting).
I do have someone currently interested in purchasing most of my rare books. But, for further information, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
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This is such a treasure thank you! One of my Great Grandpas was Benjamin Brown, book 4. I had no idea these were out there until recently, Thank you so much for your hard work! Jennifer.
Thanks! That is really cool to hear.