The City of the Mormons or, Three Days at Nauvoo, in 1842

Caswall, Henry, 1810-1870Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.0
Word count
129K words
Chapters
13

Tags

English Originals History and CultureReligion Human GeographyMormonismTravelogueSocial ObservationSect Chronicle19th CenturySociology of ReligionReligious ObservationExotic CultureAmerican West

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The City of the Mormons; or, Three Days at Nauvoo, in 1842 by Henry CaswallAuthor: Caswall, Henry, 1810-1870,Language: English, Class: F516: United States local history: Ohio River and Valley., Release Date: Jun 21, 2011

Editor's review

The City of the Mormons: Three Days at Nauvoo, in 1842 is an account written by the English clergyman Henry Caswall based on his 1842 visit to Nauvoo, Illinois, and belongs to the category of American local history. The book's value lies in offering a first-hand narrative by an outside observer of the Mormon community at the time, and it has documentary significance for readers studying nineteenth-century American religious history, immigrant communities, and the history of westward expansion. Note that the author was a clergyman, and the narrative carries clear personal stance and period prejudice; it should be read against Mormon-side sources rather than taken as the whole picture. The Project Gutenberg electronic edition allows full-text search and citation, making it suitable as supplementary reading for courses in religious history. The original is in English and not long, suitable for close reading in sections with notes.

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Reading tips

  1. Before reading, learn the historical background of Nauvoo in 1842, then enter the author's three-day account.
  2. Mark statements with obvious stance judgments as you read, and compare them with church-side sources.
  3. Read in sections according to the visit itinerary, reading one day's content at a time and organizing key observations.
  4. If used for a paper, note the author's identity as a clergyman and the year of writing, and explain the narrative's limitations.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
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FAQ

What is the author's stance? The author, Henry Caswall, was an English clergyman, and the book is based on his three-day visit to Nauvoo in 1842. The narrative carries the perspective of an outside observer, especially a religious one, along with period prejudice; readers should treat it as one side's view rather than a neutral historical overview.
What historical period does the book record? The book records observations from 1842, when Mormons were building a community in Nauvoo, Illinois, and falls within the study of nineteenth-century American religious history and westward expansion. Its content is the observation of a short visit and does not cover the full later history of Nauvoo.
Is there a Chinese translation of this book? According to available information, the book is released by Project Gutenberg as an English e-book, with no official Chinese translation mentioned. Chinese readers need English reading ability or translation tools, and should be aware of possible misunderstandings due to the lack of a translation.
Is it suitable as a religious history course reading? It can be used as supplementary material, provided it is read alongside a neutral general-history textbook and Mormon-side sources. The book is short and clearly structured, convenient for section-by-section classroom discussion, but it should not be the sole course reading, lest students receive only a single perspective.

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About the author

Caswall, Henry, 1810-1870 Author · British · 1810–1870

Henry Caswall (1810–1870) was an English Anglican clergyman and writer whose works include religious, travel and memoir writings. Only a small number of his works survive, and their subjects generally relate to his personal experience and life of faith. One work held in this collection records what he saw and heard during a three-day stay at Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1842, offering observations on the "city of the Mormons," then a gathering place of the Latter-day Saints; it combines the character of a travel account with religious commentary. Such writing reflects his standpoint and concerns as an Anglican clergyman and gives later readers a first-hand perspective on a mid-nineteenth-century American religious community. Public information is limited, so details of his life cannot be set out fully, but it is clear that his works are chiefly distinguished by personal observation and religious themes.