“SUCH DEEDS AS OUTRAGE HUMANITY, AND WELL-NIGH DESTROY ONE’S CONFIDENCE IN HUMAN GOVERNMENT”

ROBERTS, B[righam] H[enry]. The Rise and Fall of Nauvoo. Salt Lake City: The Deseret News, 1900. Octavo, original green cloth gilt. $700.

Scarce first edition of Roberts’ history of the first “great gathering place of the [Latter-day] Saints,” in original cloth gilt.

A companion volume to Roberts’ earlier book from the same year, The Missouri Persecutions, this book chronicles the history of Nauvoo, Illinois. Although the 15,000 Saints who fled to Illinois initially met a warm welcome, over time, as the city grew and the Church prospered, resentment grew. An angry mob killed the Church’s prophet Joseph Smith in 1844, sparking more violence that led to the Saints’ eventual departure for Utah under Brigham Young’s leadership. A prolific author of Mormon history and apologetics, Roberts eventually rose to the position of senior president of the First Council of the Seventy, the third highest governing body in the Church. Flake & Draper 7367. Gift inscription dated Christmas 1902.

Inner paper hinges partly split, binding sound. Cloth with light rubbing to spine and extremities, minor soiling, gilt bright. A near-fine copy. Scarce.