I recently stumbled on the Encyclopedia of Mormonism’s list of books that “have made significant contributions to the understanding of doctrine.” It’s an interesting reading list–if you want a thorough grounding in Mormon doctrine through the ages, these are the books–and naturally it lines up well with what people have chosen to get up on Project Gutenberg.
Here’s the pre-1923 (i.e. out of copyright) portion of that list, with links to PG for the works we’ve completed:
- A Voice of Warning by Parley P. Pratt (1837)
- An Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions and of the Late Discovery of Ancient American Records by Orson Pratt (1840)
- Spencer’s Letters by Orson Spencer (1852)
- Key to the Science of Theology by Parley P. Pratt (1856)
- Mediation and Atonement by John Taylor (1882)
- A Compendium of the Doctrines of the Gospel by Franklin D. Richards and James Little (1882)
- The Government of God by John Taylor (1884)
- The Gospel by B. H. Roberts (1888)
- Articles of Faith by James E. Talmage (1899)
- Mormon Doctrine of Deity and Jesus Christ: The Revelation of God by B. H. Roberts (1903)
- The Seventy’s Course in Theology, 5 vols. by B. H. Roberts (1907-1912) – (future project)
- Gospel Themes by Orson F. Whitney (1914) (just released!)
- Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage (1915)
- A Rational Theology by John A. Widtsoe (1915)
- Gospel Doctrine by Joseph F. Smith (1919)
- Saturday Night Thoughts by Orson F. Whitney (1921) – (currently being proofread)
Read these books!