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Book of Mormon/Authorship theories/Spalding manuscript/Difficult to explain before/CriticalSources
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Source of the concept
The following sources all admit (after the arrival of the Spalding theory) that the Book of Mormon had been difficult to explain under the presumption that Joseph Smith produced it himself. These sources manifest considerable relief at being able to explain the book that had previously been dismissed as not worthy of anyone's attention:
- “The Mormon Bible,” Trumpet and Universalist Magazine (Boston) 11, no. 48 (18 May 1839), n.p.. off-site
- “The Mormon Bible,” Christian Register and Boston Observer (Boston, Massachusetts) 18, no. 970 (4 May 1839). off-site
- John A. Clark, “Gleanings by the Way. No. VII,” Episcopal Recorder (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) 18, no. 25 (12 September 1840), n.p.. off-site
- John A. Clark, “Gleanings by the way. No. VIII,” Episcopal Recorder (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) (26 September 1840): 106–107. off-site
- Thomas J. Farnham, Travels in the Great Western Prairies, the Anahuac and Rocky Mountains, and in the Oregon Territory, (Poughkeepsie, New York: Killey and Lossing, 1841), 8-9. off-site