Ron Esplin, managing editor of the Joseph Smith Papers Project, speaking at the FAIR conference on Aug. 8, in Sandy , Utah , told the capacity audience that editors had expected about 20 legal documents involving Joseph Smith, and were astounded to find there were over 200 where the Prophet was the plaintiff, defendant or witness.
The legal papers are part of the comprehensive collection which contains over 2,000 documents, including those written by Joseph Smith or requested by him, materials received by Joseph Smith or kept in his office, and materials relating to legal matters involving the Prophet.
Called “the single most significant historical project of our generation” by Elder Marlin K. Jensen, Church Historian and Recorder, the project is being carried out under the most rigorous scholarly standards. Esplin said of the collection, “We are not selecting the interesting or important. We are not de-selecting the controversial or boring ones. It is not a documentary history. We are bringing together all papers associated with him and his office, letters, minutes of meetings, legal documents, written revelations, etc.”
About 90% of the documents were brought across the plains when the Saints traveled west, but the remaining 10% were scattered and are being gathered from many repositories. Owners of these documents have generally been co-operative in making them accessible to the project staff, Esplin said. They are also appreciative of the project's document conservators who are helping them preserve the fragile papers.
Editors anticipate the finished project will be 30 volumes of 500-700 pages each, which will be divided into 5 series—Journals, Documents, History, Legal and Business, and Administrative.
Esplin was asked if the database would be searchable, indexed and cross-referenced, to which he replied, “yes, yes, and yes.”
The first volume of the collected papers of Joseph Smith will roll off the presses this fall under the imprint of The Church Historian's Press, which is being established to publish official authoritative works.
There is a website, josephsmithpapers.org to keep those interested up to date on the progress of the project.
