Summary
George Q. Cannon’s life of Joseph Smith, opening with short essays on the apostasy and restoration and on the man, then following the Prophet in 66 chapters from his boyhood through the First Vision, the plates, Kirtland, Missouri and Nauvoo to the martyrdom at Carthage Jail, and closing with anecdotes and sayings of the Prophet. Joseph’s own letters, journal and sermons are read in his voice, and the revelations in the voice of the Lord.
The book
- Author
- George Q. Cannon
- Date of the work
- 1888 (preface dated October 1, 1888)
- Edition recorded
- Second edition, 1907 (Salt Lake City, Utah)
- Listening time
- 17 h 36 min
- Chapters
- 69
Where this text comes from
The title page in the digital text reads “The Life of Joseph Smith the Prophet, by George Q. Cannon, Second Edition, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1907” and names no publisher. The preface is signed “The Author. Utah Penitentiary, October 1, 1888,” and says the circumstances were “not favorable to the collection and arrangement of materials.” The Mormon Texts Project says its e-book follows the 1907 edition.
The book quotes at length from Joseph Smith’s writings, newspapers, Governor Ford’s History of Illinois, governors’ letters and other documents. Cannon prints these block quotations without quotation marks; each is read by the person who wrote it. Each chapter’s printed synopsis is read at its start. The five longer explanatory footnotes are read at the end of their chapters under “Notes”; footnotes that only cite a source appear as small numbers you can tap. The contents page is not read, and the Appendix’s family tables are read as names only, because the transcribers noted that several of their printed dates look wrong.
Text produced for Project Gutenberg by the Mormon Texts Project, with thanks to Katie Liston and David Cramer (released July 23, 2019).
Public domain
Public domain, free to share. The text of The Life of Joseph Smith, the Prophet is in the public domain in the United States. It was first published in 1888, and the edition recorded here appeared in 1907. Works published before 1931 are out of copyright there.
This site claims no copyright or trademark in the text. It uses no logos, trademarks or modern artwork of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or anyone else, and the cover picture is also in the public domain. Names such as “Book of Mormon” or the Church’s own name appear only to identify the book and its subject, and belong to their owners.
This is an independent project, not produced, sponsored or endorsed by the Church. The voices are AI-generated.