Joseph Smith's reference library

Introduction

Critics who attempt a naturalistic explanation of Joseph Smith's production of the Book of Mormon often resort to claiming that Joseph gleaned a certain idea from a book or other source in his New England environment.

There is little or no evidence of Joseph having contact with such books, but this page attempts to lay out all the books which critics have suggested were in young Joseph's "reference library."

(If you add to thist list, please include a specific record to a specific critical work. Do not simply list works "off the top of your head" or by memory. We want this to be well-documented.)

Miscellaneous

Work	Claim made	Notes/remarks
E.T.A. Hoffmann, The Golden Pot [Der golden Topf]	Grant H. Palmer, An Insider's View of Mormon Origins (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2002) Chapter 5. ( Index of claims )	Palmer's theory drew on the forged Hofmann document, the Salamander letter. Book of Mormon and the Golden Pot
John Milton's defense of polygamy	George D. Smith, Nauvoo Polygamy: "...but we called it celestial marriage" (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2008), 530-531. ( Index of claims , (Detailed book review)) George D. Smith, "Strange Bedfellows: Mormon Polygamy and Baptist History," Free Inquiry 16/2 (1996): 41-45; reprinted in Freedom of Conscience: Baptist/Humanist Dialogue, ed. Paul D. Simmons (Prometheus Books, 2000), 207-16, see footnote #69 at pp. 377-78.	N/A

Religious texts

• King James Bible - of this claim, at least, we are certain. Though, whether Joseph had a Bible during the translation of the Book of Mormon is not clear. Substantial evidence suggests that he may not have. (See here).

Romances

Work	Claim made	Notes/remarks
* Solomon Spalding's unfinished novel/romance.	This was the standard explanation for the Book of Mormon during the nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth. Advocates have included: Henry Caswall, The Prophet of the Nineteenth Century, or, the Rise, Progress, and Present State of the Mormons, or Latter-Day Saints : To Which Is Appended an Analysis of the Book of Mormon (London: Printed for J. G. F. & J. Rivington, 1843), 13–25. off-site Rev. John A. Clark, Gleanings by the Way, (Philadelphia: W.J. and J.K. Simon; New York: Robert Carter, 1842), 246–254 off-site. Eber D. Howe, Mormonism Unvailed (Painesville, OH, 1834). (Affidavits examined) William Alexander Linn, The Story of the Mormons (New York: Macmillan, 1902), ??. Stenhouse, "Tell It All", 267. Wilhelm Wyl, Mormon Portraits Volume First: Joseph Smith the Prophet, His Family and Friends (Salt Lake City: Tribune Printing and Publishing Co., 1886), 20, 118, 122–124, 238–243. Pomeroy Tucker, Origin, Rise, and Progress: of Mormonism.... (New York: D. Appleton, 1867), 111–128.	Spalding manuscript
* Solomon Spalding's "second" manuscript	Since the first Spalding manuscript was discovered and found to be of little help in explaining the Book of Mormon, critics have tried to posit the existence of a second manuscript. There is, however, no evidence for a second manuscript (and evidence that Spalding had not finished his first manuscript, which makes the existence of a second even less likely. This theory is convenient for the critics: since the manuscript is not available (since it likely never existed), they can make any claims they like about its contents without fear of contradiction. Critics who have made this claim include: *George B. Arbaugh, Revelation in Mormonism (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1932). Howard A. Davis, Wayne L. Cowdrey, and Walter Martin, Who Really Wrote the Book of Mormon? (Santa Ana, Ca.: Vision House Publishers, 1977), 1–. Analysis Wayne L. Cowdrey, Howard A. Davis, and Arthur Vanick, Who Really Wrote the Book of Mormon? The Spalding Enigma. (St. Louis: Concordia, 2005), 1–. Analysis Walter Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults (Revised) (Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1997), 213, n15-16. ( Index of claims )	[[Book_of_Mormon/Authorship_theories/Spalding_manuscript|Spalding manuscript]