Revelation, circa 22 December 1841–B
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Source Note
Revelation, [, Hancock Co., IL, ca. 22 Dec. 1841]; handwriting of ; one page; Revelations Collection, CHL.Single leaf measuring 10¾ × 7½ inches (27 × 19 cm). The original size of the leaf is unknown, as the top and left edges are torn all along. The leaf contains various notes, mostly in the handwriting of but also in graphite in the handwriting of at least one other scribe. The leaf was folded in half twice horizontally. The folds separated, leading to the loss of one character. The folds were later mended.The document has presumably been in continuous institutional custody since its creation. By 1984 the document had been included in the Revelations Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL).
Footnotes
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See the full bibliographic entry for Revelations Collection, 1831–ca. 1844, 1847, 1861, ca. 1876, in the CHL catalog.
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Historical Introduction
Circa 22 December 1841, JS dictated a revelation instructing trustee to serve a mission across the Atlantic to solicit donations of money and physical materials for the construction of two large structures in , Illinois. A January 1841 revelation had commanded the to build a and a hotel or boardinghouse called the , which would also serve as a residence for JS and his family. In addition, the revelation directed that a proclamation be written to the “Kings of the world” inviting them to come to Nauvoo with their “gold and silver, to the help of my people,” and to bring the “box tree, and the fir tree, and the pine tree,” echoing language in the book of Isaiah. Repeating the injunction of the January revelation, this December revelation instructed Snider to carry a “package of Epistles”—probably meaning multiple copies of one letter—from the requesting donations.delayed his departure for three months, hesitating to leave unless the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles financed his journey. Snider’s mission became a frequent topic of discussion among JS and the Twelve. On 28 January 1842 JS told the Quorum of the Twelve that Snider should go, “and if necessary some one go with him. and raise up a Church. and get means to go to . & carry the Epistles required in the Revelation . . . & if he will not do these things he shall be cut off from the Church. & be damned.” On 20 March the Twelve wrote the letter that the revelation commanded Snider to carry with him, and on 26 March he left for England.JS may have dictated this revelation to , who inscribed the featured version on one side of a loose leaf of unlined paper. On that same page Richards had previously inscribed another short revelation appointing to a proselytizing mission, as well as a brief note dated December 1841 introducing that revelation. The other side of the leaf includes a note, inscribed by Richards, of three donations to the church dated 22 December 1841. This suggests that Richards recorded this revelation on the loose leaf that same day. Richards then copied the Fuller revelation, the note preceding it, and the revelation into the new JS journal that he was keeping in a large book titled “The Book of the Law of the Lord.” In the journal, Richards dated the Fuller and Snider revelations 22 December 1841, providing further evidence JS dictated them on or near that date.
Footnotes
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Revelation, 19 Jan. 1841 [D&C 124:3, 11, 26, 31, 56, 60]; Isaiah 60:13.
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2
See JS History, vol. C-1, 1273; and Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, 28 Jan. 1842, 2.
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JS, Journal, 27 Dec. 1841; 28 and 31 Jan. 1842; 26 Mar. 1842.
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5
Brigham Young et al., “An Epistle of the Twelve,” Times and Seasons, 1 Apr. 1842, 3:735–738; JS, Journal, 26 Mar. 1842.
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