Times and Seasons. Nauvoo, November 1839–February 15, 1846.
6 v. (131 nos. 192; [193]–582; [577]–958; 383; [384]–767; [768]–1135 p.) facsims. (1 fold.) 23 cm.
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When the Mormons began to evacuate Far West, Missouri in October 1838, the press and type were buried in the front yard of one of the Saints. The following spring they were dug up and hauled to Nauvoo for service in the new Mormon city. In November 1839, the first number of the official Mormon organ during the Nauvoo period, the Times and Seasons, came off the transplanted Far West press. Maintaining the size and format of the Messenger and Advocate, the Times and Seasons was a monthly for the first year and a semimonthly thereafter. Initially “Commerce” was listed on the masthead as the place of publication; “Nauvoo” appeared there after the fifth number.
The Times and Seasons saw a virtual parade of editors. Ebenezer Robinson and Don Carlos Smith served together for the first fifteen numbers. Don Carlos Smith alone edited numbers 16–24, and he and Robert B. Thompson edited numbers 25–31. Robinson joined Thompson in editing numbers 32 and 33 following the death of Don Carlos Smith, and two months later Thompson died, leaving Ebenezer Robinson to edit the next ten issues. Up to this point, the press and the periodical itself had been owned by the editors, but a series of events led the Church to buy out Ebenezer Robinson with Joseph Smith taking over as editor.
On November 20 and 30, 1841, the Twelve met to discuss the magazine. At a third meeting in Joseph Smith’s office on January 17, 1842, they expressed their opposition to Robinson’s publishing the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants without the explicit consent of the First Presidency. Robinson in their view, was too proprietary with what were, after all, official Church works. Beyond this, the Twelve were assuming a greater responsibility for the affairs of the Church, and it is not surprising they wanted more control over the official Church magazine. On January 28 Joseph Smith received a revelation that they should take charge of the Times and Seasons and manage the print shop under Joseph Smith’s direction (issue 44 reflects this change). The next day Robinson deeded the shop to Joseph Smith for $6,600—ultimately paid in cash installments, credit against temple contributions, livestock, and shares in the Nauvoo House. With whole number 61 (vol. 4, no. 1), John Taylor became the editor, continuing until the Times and Seasons ceased publication in February 1846.
One cannot hope to understand the Nauvoo period of Mormonism without the Times and Seasons. More than its predecessors, it captures the spirit of the Latter-day Saints as it chronicles their day-to-day efforts to spread their message and gather the converted. Its pages reflect the optimism which fueled the building of the City of Joseph and the sorrow which accompanies its abandonment.
Excerpted and edited from Peter Crawley and Chad J. Flake,
A Mormon Fifty: an exhibition in the Harold B. Lee Library in conjunction with the annual conference of the Mormon History Association. (Provo, Utah, Friends of the Brigham Young University Library, 1984). Item 11, p. [12]; and Peter Crawley,
A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church. Volume One, 1830–1847. (Provo, Utah, Brigham Young University, Religious Studies Center, [1977]). Item 60, p. 91–96.
Used by permission of the authors and the Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University.
BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY