Mormon History

New Light on Mormonism - 1885

The Salt Lake Daily Tribune

May 24, 1885

NEW  BOOKS.
________

New Light on Mormonism, by Mrs. Ellen E. Dickinson, with
introduction by Thurlow Weed. New York: Funk & Wagnalls,

This book seems to have been written by a sincere and capable author. It begins with a life of Solomon Spaulding, and his authorship of "The Manuscript Found;" the fate of the book from 1816 to 1834 is followed; a sketch of the life of Joseph Smith, and of the printing of the Book of Mormon is given, and a sketch of Sidney Rigdon. There are reminiscences of Solomon Spaulding, with Hurlburt and Howe; a description of the Kirtland Temple; the history of the Mormons in Missouri and Nauvoo, and a description of the Nauvoo Temple; the election of Brigham Young as President, and the expulsion of the Mormons from Illinois. The early political history of the Mormons in Utah follows; the influences of the Mormons over the Indians; and an account of the massacre at Mountain Meadows. There is a sketch of Brigham Young; a dissertation on polygamy; the trial of Rudger Clawson; a description of Salt Lake City, and an account of the Mormon organization. The closing chapter is devoted to the Josephites. There is not much in the book which is new to residents here, but it is well-written and interesting.


Note: Mrs. Dickinson's New Light on Mormonism was published in the spring of 1885 and apparently copies had reached Utah by mid-May. Recalling how readily the Tribune had opened its columns to articles on Solomon Spalding, Sidney Rigdon, etc. a few years before, it seems strange that its editors in 1885 had essentially nothing to say about Dickinson's book and the several key pieces of documentation it made available to followers of the Spalding authorship claims for the Book of Mormon. A review of the Dickinson book embodying considerably more description and analysis of her work may be found in the June 27, 1885 issue of The Literary World.


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