View source for History of Joseph Smith by His Mother

{{short description|1853 biography by Lucy Mack Smith}}
{{Infobox book
| name          = History of Joseph Smith by His Mother
| image         = File:Biographical Sketches title page.jpg
| caption       = Title page of the first edition in 1853.
| author        = [[Lucy Mack Smith]]
| illustrator   =
| cover_artist  =
| country       = England
| language      = English
| series        =
| subject       = [[Joseph Smith]]
| genre         = [[Biography]]
| publisher     = Published for [[Orson Pratt]] by S. W. Richards
| pub_date      = 1853
| english_pub_date =
| media_type    = Print ([[Hardcover]])
| pages         = 297 pp
| isbn          =
| oclc          =
| preceded_by   =
| followed_by   =
}}
'''''History of Joseph Smith by His Mother''''' is a biography of [[Joseph Smith]], founder of the [[Latter Day Saint movement]], according to his mother, [[Lucy Mack Smith]].  It was originally titled '''''Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and His Progenitors for Many Generations''''' and was published by [[Orson Pratt]] in [[Liverpool]] in 1853.
==Background==
Shortly following the [[death of Joseph Smith]] in 1844, and into 1845, Lucy Mack Smith dictated her recollections and family story to [[Nauvoo, Illinois|Nauvoo]] schoolteacher [[Martha Jane Coray]]. Coray worked with her husband to compile these books of notes and other sources into a manuscript, which was then copied.
One copy was given to [[apostle (Latter Day Saints)|apostle]] [[Brigham Young]], and the other stayed with Lucy Smith in Nauvoo. Eventually, apostle Orson Pratt obtained Lucy's copy and published it in 1853, to great controversy.<ref name=textualhistory>{{cite book | author=Anderson, Lavina Fielding | author-link=Lavina Fielding Anderson | title=Lucy's Book | chapter=The Textual History of Lucy's Book | year=2001 | publisher=[[Signature Books]] | location=Salt Lake City, Utah | url=http://www.signaturebookslibrary.org/Lucy/textual%20history.htm | access-date=2009-02-23}}</ref>
===Brigham Young's opposition===
After its publication, Brigham Young declared the book to be a "tissue of lies" and wanted corrections made.<ref name=shipps91>{{Harv|Shipps|1987|p=91}}</ref> In the ''[[Millennial Star]]'' in 1855, he said,
<blockquote>There are many mistakes in the work ... I have had a written copy of those sketches in my possession for several years, and it contains much of the history of the Prophet Joseph. Should it ever be deemed best to publish these sketches, it will not be done until after they are carefully corrected.<ref>{{cite book|title=Joseph Smith, The Prophet And His Progenitors For Many Generations|chapter=Preface|url=http://www.centerplace.org/history/misc/jsp.htm|access-date=2008-07-03}}</ref></blockquote>
In 1865, Young ordered the church members to have their copies destroyed. There was no "corrected" version until the church published a 1901 serialization and 1902 book, which were done under the direction of [[Joseph F. Smith]], Lucy's grandson.<ref name=textualhistory/>
Later historians theorized that Young opposed the book because of his own conflicts with its publisher, Orson Pratt,<ref name=shipps100/> as well as the book's favorable references to [[William Smith (Latter Day Saints)|William Smith]], Young's opponent and Lucy's son.<ref name=shipps91/> Lucy Mack Smith portrayed the Smith family as the legitimate leaders of the church, which Young may also have seen as a challenge to his leadership.<ref name=shipps105/>
==Importance==
LDS historian [[Leonard Arrington]] saw the book as "informative, basically accurate, and extremely revealing of Joseph Smith's early life and family background," and felt it "perhaps tells more about Mormon origins than any other single source.<ref name=shipps100>{{Harv|Shipps|1987|p=100}}</ref>  [[Richard Lloyd Anderson|Richard L. Anderson]] called it one of "the essential sources for Mormon origins."<ref name=shipps105>{{Harv|Shipps|1987|p=105}}</ref>  Non-Mormon historian [[Jan Shipps]] identifies this history as being "of central importance in the Mormon historical corpus."<ref>{{Harv|Shipps|1987|p=92}}</ref>
==Editions==
The book has been republished several times, under various publishers, editors and titles.  The following is a list of editions with significant changes to the text or title.
*{{cite book
| title         = Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet, and His Progenitors for Many Generations, by Lucy Smith, Mother of the Prophet
| year          = 1853
| publisher     = S.W. Richards for [[Orson Pratt]]
| location      = Liverpool
| url           = http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/NCMP1820-1846/id/17401
}}
*{{cite book
| title         = Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith the Prophet and His Progenitors for Many Generations
| year          = 1880
| publisher     = [[Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints]]
| location      = Plano, Illinois
}}
*{{Cite book
| editor1-last  = Smith
| editor1-first = George A.
| editor1-link  = George A. Smith
| editor2-last  = Smith
| editor2-first = Elias
| title         = History of the Prophet Joseph, by His Mother, Lucy Smith, as Revised by George A. Smith and Elias Smith
| year          = 1902
| publisher     = [[Improvement Era]]
| location      = Salt Lake City, Utah
}}.
*{{cite book
| editor        = Nibley, Preston
| editor-link   = Preston Nibley
| title         = History of Joseph Smith, By His Mother, Lucy Mack Smith
| year          = 1945
| publisher     = Stevens & Wallis
| location      = Salt Lake City, Utah
}}
*{{cite book
| editor        = Nibley, Preston
| editor-link   = Preston Nibley
| title         = History of Joseph Smith, By His Mother, Lucy Mack Smith
| year          = 1956
| publisher     = [[Bookcraft]]
| location      = Salt Lake City, Utah
| url           = http://www.kristus.dk/jkk/text.php?id=176500
}}
*{{cite book
| title         = Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith, the Prophet
| year          = 1969
| publisher     = Arno Press
| location      = New York
}}
*{{cite book
| author        = Tanner, Jerald and Sandra
| author-link    = Jerald and Sandra Tanner
| title         = Joseph Smith's History By His Mother: The Book Brigham Young Tried to Destroy
| year          = 1978
| publisher     = Modern Microfilm Co.
| location      = Salt Lake City, Utah
}}
*{{Cite book
| editor1-last  = Proctor
| editor1-first = Scot Facer
| editor1-link  = Scot Facer Proctor
| editor2-last  = Proctor
| editor2-first = Maurine Jensen
| editor2-link  = Maurine Jensen Proctor
| title         = The Revised and Enhanced History of Joseph Smith By His Mother
| year          = 1996
| publisher     = [[Bookcraft]]
| location      = Salt Lake City, Utah
| isbn          = 1-57008-267-7
}}.
*{{cite book
| editor        = Anderson, Lavina Fielding
| editor-link   = Lavina Fielding Anderson
| title         = Lucy's Book: A Critical Edition of Lucy Mack Smith's Family Memoir
| year          = 2001
| publisher     = [[Signature Books]]
| location      = Salt Lake City, Utah
| isbn          = 1-56085-137-6
| url           = http://signaturebookslibrary.org/?p=9327
}}
*{{cite book
| editor        = Ingleton, R. Vernon
| title         = History of Joseph Smith by His Mother, Lucy Mack Smith; the Unabridged Original Version
| year          = 2005
| publisher     = Stratford Books
| location      = Provo, Utah
| isbn          = 0-929753-05-4
}}
==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}
==References==
{{cite book
| last = Shipps
| first = Jan
| author-link = Jan Shipps
| title = Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition
| publisher = [[University of Illinois Press]]
| location = Urbana
| year = 1987
| isbn = 0-252-01417-0
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=mIr3eviKfE0C
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:History of Joseph Smith by His Mother}}
<!-- Publication dates for alternate titles are in the redirect article for that title. -->
[[Category:1853 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:American biographies]]
[[Category:History books about the Latter Day Saint movement]]
[[Category:Books about Joseph Smith]]
[[Category:LDS non-fiction]]
[[Category:1853 in Christianity]]