Beschreibung:

Title: The Latter Day Saints' Selection of Hymns Author: [Bidaman, Emma Hale Smith] Place: Cincinnati, O. Publisher: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Date: 1861 Description: (iii)-304 pp. (16mo) 11.1x7.5 cm., original blindstamped black cloth, spine lettered in gilt. First Edition. The third and final hymnal compiled by Emma (Smith) Bidaman and the first hymnal of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. At the Semi-Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in October of 1860 Emma Hale (Smith) Bidaman, the widow of Joseph Smith, was appointed to make a selection of Hymns and to publish them in a new hymn book. This was a task she had undertaken twice before, first in 1835 and again in 1841. By July of 1861 the hymnal was published and met with somewhat lackluster sales. So slow were sales that the lack of funds resulting from the costs of publication interfered with the distribution of the publisher's (Isaac Sheen) monthly LDS periodical, the 'Herald'. All of Emma (Smith) Bidaman's hymnals are scarce, and of the present edition only a single copy is located by WorldCat at the Community of Christ Library in Independence, Missouri. No copies appear in the auction records for at least 30 years and we can locate no record of copies in the trade. The copy with the ownership signatures of Benjamin Soule of Erie, PA. and of Mrs. Dorcas Price. Soule and his wife were among the earliest converts to the Mormon church from Erie but did not leave Pennsylvania when the Mormons traveled west to Missouri, Illinois and Utah. Flake 7047. Lot Amendments Condition: Front cover slightly bowed, some small deterioration of cloth in gutter of rear joint; light foxing; still near fine. Item number: 219984