Description
About the Author
Richard Lyman Bushman is Gouverneur Morris Professor Emeritus of History at Columbia University and the author of many books, including Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling and Mormonism: A Very Short Introduction. He has received fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies, the Charles Warren Center, the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Huntington Library, the Shelby Cullom Davis Center, and the American Antiquarian Society. He co-founded and is chairman of the Board of the Center for Latter-day Saint Arts.
Reviews
In the tradition of his magisterial biography of Mormonism's founder, Richard Bushman's history of Joseph Smith's Gold Plates begins with two earnest questions: how do we make sense of our subject in the context of its time and place in history? And how does that nineteenth-century culture so marvelously elucidated ultimately fail to fully explain the enigma-in this case those baffling gold plates? We see here a virtuoso historian at work who is not afraid to share his wonder as much as his learning. That combination of historical command and intellectual humility makes Bushman a joy to read. * Terryl Givens, Professor of Religion and Literature Emeritus, University of Richmond *
Joseph Smith's Gold Plates is a riveting cultural history of American religion's most enigmatic objects. Richard Bushman has long been known as the leading voice in Mormon studies for his skillful research, incisive analysis, and stylish prose. This book is true to form. For anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the history of Mormonism and American culture, it is indispensable. * Sonia Hazard, Assistant Professor of Religion, Florida State University *
This engaging and sometimes playful book explores an almost two-century-long obsession with proving or disproving the reality of a mysterious set of metallic plates that Joseph Smith claimed to have found in glacial hill in upstate New York. Bushman excels in capturing the inner compulsions and assumptions of the witnesses, writers, artists, and historians who have responded to the plates, showing that over time 'the golden plates' have indeed become enchanted. * Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Author of A House Full of Females: Plural Marriage and Women's Rights in Early Mormonism, 1830-1870 *
No other writer has so clearly and concisely gathered together the many treatments of Smith's gold plates, and Bushman's work is an important contribution in this sense, among others. * Nicholas S. Literski, JD, PhD, for the Association for Mormon Letters, Twenty-First Century Mormon Literature *
An excellent treatment of an important subject. Highly recommended. * Choice *
Book Information
ISBN 9780197676523
Author Richard Lyman Bushman
Format Hardback
Page Count 264
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 1g
Dimensions(mm) 165mm * 236mm * 27mm