Early Mormon Documents

As historians continue to sort through the beginnings of Mormonism, Dan Vogel's transcriptions of all primary documents is an unparalleled achievement. In the first of a multi-volume series, Joseph Smith's family -- Emma, Katharine, Lucy, Joseph Sr., William, and others -- recount how they became convinced of his high calling, feeling "the spirit of God like a burning fire shut up in (their) bones." These narratives are carefully presented in their original forms with full documentation and annotation.As confidantes, the Smith family were intimately acquainted with their son's and brother's extraordinary supernatural encounters, and they repeated what they knew with considerable consistency over the years, despite the fact that Joseph's published autobiography, which became the accepted, canonized version, differs significantly in several areas.According to family tradition, the young seer retired to his bedroom one evening after discussing the Bible with his parents and siblings. In a dream he saw an,angel who told him that his sins were forgiven and that he would uncover a book buried near their home that was inscribed in an ancient language on gold leaves. He found the artifact and translated it with the help of a seer stone placed in a hat, on which the book's script appeared as illuminated English words. The rest is history.Vogel, Dan is the author of 'Early Mormon Documents' with ISBN 9781560850724 and ISBN 1560850728.