Wilford Woodruff's Book Reviews

WILFORD’S JOURNAL REFERENCE	DATE	TITLE OF BOOK READ BY WILFORD WOODRUFF	AUTHOR	WILFORD’S NOTES
1:43	9/24/1835	Doctrine and Covenants of The Church of Latter Day Saints	Compiled by Joseph Smith, Jr. Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams	“A precious treasure.  A legacy from heaven.” (Published in 1835.)
1:104	11/5/1836	Principles of Nature	Elihu Palmer
1:127	3/1837	An Outline of Ancient and Modern History	Reverend Royal Robbins	“It strikes the reflecting mind with deep sensibility to contemplate the scenery of the rise, progress, decline and fall of the nations and kingdoms of the earth from the days of Adam until 1837 years after Christ.”
1:249	5/14/1838	Voice of Warning; Mormonism Unveiled	Parley P. Pratt	“I never was more edified in reading a pamphlet than on this occasion.”
1:283	9/8/1838	Journal of Lorenzo Dow	Lorenzo Dow	“I found it to be highly interesting … was eccentric … but he appears to have as much light as any in his day …”
1:364-65	10/15/1839	An Ecclesiastical History, From The Birth of Christ to the Beginning of the Eighteenth Century	John Lawrence Mosheim D. D.	“I read all under the 4th Century during the reign of Constantine and also the first part of the 2nd century.”
1:372	12/10/1839	Researches and Missionary labours among the Jews, Mohammedans, and other Sects	Reverend Joseph Wolff	“highly interesting” (Published in 1837.)
1:434	4/13/1840	Prophecies of Robert Dixon		“singular and striking prophecies” (Published in 1829.)
1:446	5/11/1840	The millennium and other poems: to which is annexed a treatise on the regeneration and eternal duration of matter.	Parley P. Pratt	“it prepared my mind for a lonely walk and meditation” (Published in 1840.)
2:37	2/5/1841	Life and Death of John Fletcher	John Wesley	(Published in 1836.)
2:55-58	3/6/1841	The History of Rome	Edward Coxe	Wilford writes three pages of details of this “truly interesting” history
2:100	5/14/1841	The History of England	Reverend John Adams
2:107	6/25/1841	Lectures on the Second Coming of Christ About the Year 1843	William Miller	“trying to make out the fulfillment of all predictions of the Old and New Testament by referring to the French Government and other affairs which was as foreign from the subject as Heaven is from Hell”
2:108	6/26/1841	The Life and Medical Discoveries of Samuel Thomson	Dr. Samuel Thomson	“a great blessing to mankind … one of the greatest improvements of the last days … causing a great revolution throughout America in the mode of practice” (Published in 1835.)
2:108	6/27/1841	Narrative of theShipwreck,CaptivityandSufferings ofHorace Holdenand Benj.H.Nute		“interesting but painful narrative
2:126	9/13-14/1841	Incidents of Travels in Central America Chiapas and Yucatan	John L. Stephens	“it brought to light a flood of testimony in proof of the Book of Mormon” (Published in 1837.)
2:126	9/16/1841	Incidents of Travels in Egypt, Arabia, Petra and the Holy Land	John L. Stephens	“It is truly one of the most interesting histories I have ever read.”
2:156	3/21-26/1842	The Life of William Cobbett	F. J. Mason	(Published in 1835.)
2:318	10/12/1843	A System of Elocution and Walker’s Dictionary	Andrew Comstock	(Published in 1843.)
2:319, 323	10/17-22/1843	Incidents of Travels in Central America Chiapas and Yucatan	John L. Stephens	“I read them with the highest degree of interest.”
2:463	9/12/1844	History of the Welsh Baptists from the year 63 to the year 1770	Jonathan Davis	“Professing to trace their origin to John the Baptist.” (Published in 1835.)
2:465-66	9/20/1844	Narrative and recollections of Van Diemen's Land during a three years' captivity of Stephen S. Wright	Stephen S. Wright	Included account of Colonel Martin Woodruff a Deputy Sheriff of Salina Onondaga County, New York (Published in 1844.)
2:475	10/18-19/1844	Vol 2 Incidents of Travels in Egypt, Arabia, Petra and the Holy Land	John L. Stephens	“I was highly edified with it.”  “Perhaps I might follow his footsteps over some of the same ground in some of my travels in the earth.”
2:541	4/30/1845			“reading Law”
3:18	2/17-18/1846	Travels in Russia, Tartary and Turkey	Edward Daniel Clarke, LLD	“I found to be highly interesting.  His style of writing is quite similar to that of Stephen.” (Published in 1839.)
3:184	5/1847	The Emigrants Guide to Oregon and California	Lansford W. Hastings	“He tells some great stories about California and Oregon.” (Published in 1845)
3:204	6/13/1847	Book of Mormon		“I have taken great delight in … seeing the great and glorious things revealed and recorded in that book and that we are now trying to fulfill …”
3:316-17	2/9/1848	Book of Enoch Book of Jasher
3:322	2/19/1848	Life of Zachary Taylor and History of the Mexican War
3:327	3/3/1848	Life of Benjamin Franklin	O.L. Holley?	“the most tedious stormy day … spent the day reading” (Published in 1848.)
3:345	4/23/1838	Account of the French Revolution
3:366	9/9/1848	The Young Man’s Guide, 17th Edition	William A. Alcott	“contains many excellent morals that are worthy of imitation and practice upon a great variety of subjects.  It is a valuable work … one of the best Gentile works I ever saw.” (Published in 1834.)
3:366	9/11/1848	The Young Ladies Aid	Jason Whitman	“contains much good counsel”
3:377	10/16/1848	A Man of Sorrows or The Providence of God Displayed	William Jackson SBC Minister	“It was a most interesting work showing his sufferings … and the dealings of Providence.” (Published in 1843.)
3:388	11/12/1848	Journal of the Texian (sic) Expedition Against Mier	General Thomas Green	(Published in 1845.)
3:437	4/2/1849	The Principles of Nature, Her Divine Revelations, and a Voice to Mankind	Andrew Jackson Davis	“Called a revelation but I am convinced it was not a revelation from God.” (Published  in 1847.)
3:459-60	6/17/1849	Book of Captives Among the Indians including Smith Captivity		Account of Indian chief’s purification, prayer and sacrifice compared to offerings of ancient Israel
4:179	1/15/1853	Account of President Young and the Saints	Captain Howard Stansbury	“The official report of Captain … of the Corps of Topographical Engineers survey of the Great Salt Lake.  It was truly an interesting work.  He has given a true, correct, just and impartial account of President Brigham Young and the Saints …”
4:246-49	2/6/1854	The Life of Benjamin Franklin, Volume 1	“J Spenby” (Autobiography published 1854 under direction of Dr. Karl Elze?)	Wilford fills four journal pages with extracts, particularly Franklin’s “rules of perfection.”    “it is an excellent and worthy example and hoping it may do me or my children or some other persons some good.”
4:309-313	3/1855			Studying English grammar
4:373	11/20/1855	Ecclesiastes, Songs of Solomon, and Isaiah
4:396-397	2/23-25/1856	Wild Scenes in a Hunters Life	John Frost	“It gave an account of the nature of all the wild animals of Africa in the hunt and nearly all animals in the world.” (Published in 1852.)
4:493	11/18/1856	Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan …	Commodore Matthew C. Perry	Visits to Japan in the years 1852-1854
5:290	2/18/1859	Revolution in Russia
5:301	2/22/1859
5:310, 312, 314	3/16, 22, 24/1859	The Life of Napoleon		“quite interesting”
5:395	11/20/1859	Ezekiel and Isaiah
5:432	2/9/1860	Gospel of Nicodemus		Left it with Albert Carrington
5:470	6/30/1860	Doctrine and Covenants		“rich feast of spiritual things comparing the revelations of the Lord given to us 20 and 30 years ago with the present signs of the times.”
5:547	2/4/1861	Harpers Series School and Family Readers	Harper and Brothers	“I think it is the best series I have seen.” (Published in 1860.)
5:554	2/19/1861	History of the Jews	Josephus	See 6:19 “no man can read with indifference his account of the siege of Jerusalem”
6:19	2/12/1862	Ancient History	Charles Rollin	“I would recommend this history for our young men to read who wish to become acquainted with ancient history.” (8 Volumes were published by Pratt and Co. in 1842)
6:84	12/29/1862	The City of Saints: Among the Mormons and Across the Rocky Mountains to California	Sir Richard Burton	“He is as truthful and honorable as any man who has written upon the subject of the Latter day Saints who is in no way connected with us.” (Published 1862.)
6:370	10/2/1867			Children should be taught to read the scriptures and “all good books and let novels alone.”  See also 7:251.
6:538	4/15/1870	Bee Journal and National Agriculturalist; The Secrets of Beekeeping	H. A. King; K. P. Kidder	Ordered copies
7:180	5/3/1874	Memorial Genealogy and Ecclesiastical History of New Britain Connecticut		“I was very much interested in the work.  It contained my father Aphek Woodruff’s name, Uncle Ozem and Azmon my oldest brother.”
7:263	1/23/1876	Stephen Hart and His Descendants	Alfred Andrews	(Wilford used this book to research members of his step-mother’s family in preparation for proxy temple work.)
7:281	8/3-5/1876	Life of Daniel Boone		“His life was a remarkable one.” National Portrait Gallery of Eminent Americans by Evert Duyckinck? (Published in 1862.)
7:295-96	12/15/1876	The Life and African Exploration of David Livingstone	David Livingstone (Published in 1876.)?	or Portrait gallery of eminent men and women of Europe and America…with biographies by Evert Duyckinck? (Published in 1873.)
7:354	6/11/1877	“travels of men in Africa”		David Livingstone’s work above?
7:492	6/23/1879	A Popular History of the United States of America: From The Aboriginal Times to the Present Day	John Clark Ridpath	(Published in 1877.)
7:496	7/12/1879	History of France		“showing the destruction of human life during the Reign of Terror.”
7:496	7/18-19/1879	New translation of the Bible	Joseph Smith (published by the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
7:496	7/19/1879	Chambers Information for the People	William Chambers	“geology and meteorology” (Published in 1860.)
7:517	10/5/1879	The New Testament	Joseph Smith’s Translation	“very instructive and edifying.”
7:529. 532	11/14-28/1879	History of the World	James D. McCabe	“Assyrian and Persian Kingdoms” (Published in 1877.)
7:534, 536	12/8, 17-18/1879	Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Letters	Hugh Blair	“Quite interesting on many points.” (47 Lectures given at the University of Edinburgh published in 1783.)
7:546	1/26/1880	Lectures Against Mormonism	Coates	Preceded Wilford’s Vision in the Wilderness
7:610	12/19/1880	The Talmud		Translation
8:6	1/16/1881			“In reading history I would recommend the young men to read Rollins Ancient History and Josephus.
8:271-73	8/20-28/1884	History of Utah	Hubert H. Bancroft	Edited Bancroft’s history before its publication
8:306	2/24/1885	Science of the Bible: Work Days of God	Robert W. Morris
8:307	3/5/1885	Gaskell's CompleteEncyclopedia of Reference	Prof. George Arthur Gaskell	Examined details of the Civil War (Published in 1882)
8:308-11	3/9-4/8/1885	Illustrated History of England	John Cassell	Battle of Crecy, Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey (Published in 1874)
8:316-19	5/23-6/9/1885	History of the Jews	Josephus	“the fall of Jerusalem … the most dreadful events of anything I have read in my life.”
8:322	7/5/1885	The Bible
8:379, 381	2/23/1886 3/10/1886	History of the World	Ward, Loch, and Co.
8:380	2/28/1886	Miracle in Stone: The Great Pyramid of Egypt	Joseph A. Seiss	(Published in 1877.)
8:383	3/21/1886	Napoleon
8:384	3/30/1886	History of the Visitation and Exploration of the Arctic	Franklin, Kane and Hall	“It is a strange history of what humanity can go through.”
8:385	4/12/1886	Life of Lincoln
8:395	7/11/1886	Doctrine and Covenants
8:404	9/25/1886	History of Lincoln
8:405	10/1/1886	Napoleon		“What a man of war he was.”
8:409	11/7, 14, 16/1886	History of Salt Lake City	Edward W. Tullidge	(Published in 1886.)
8:428	3/4/1887	The Wonders of the World	Uncle John (pseudonym)	(Published in 1880.)
8:428	3/5/1887	Travels of Baker and Livingston
8:436	4/29/1887	Sea and Land
8:469	11/30/1887	Shakespeare
9:14	3/24/1889	History of Joseph Smith
9:73	12/22/1889	History of Joseph Smith		“It showed the terrible persecution he passed through up to the hour of his death.”
9:81	1/17/1890	From Kirtland to Salt Lake City	James A. Little	“It is a very interesting work.”
9:87	3/15/1890	Travels and history of George A. Smith and company to Jerusalem and the Holy Land
9:185	2/13/1892	History of Utah		“…including the Mountain Meadow Massacre which was a painful chapter.”
9:197	4/27/1892	The Memorial History of Hartford County Connecticut (2 volumes)	James Hammond Trumbull	It was very interesting to me. In the Map of Farmington it showed the Location of my first Progenitors of the Woodruff family. John Woodruff the first settled in Farmington in 1651, and Mathew Woodruff settled in Farmington in 1716. From these two men my father’s family descended. (Published in 1886.)
9:207	7/3/1892	History of Utah	Orson F. Whitney	“I found it a true history.”
9:268	10/21/1893	History of Joseph Smith
9:290	2/22/1894	History of the United States		“Washington’s birthday I spent at home reading the History of the United States.”
9:317	9/3/1894			“I read of the terrible forest fire of Michigan and Minnesota; the most terrible destruction of life and property ever known in America.”
9:335	1/10/1895	10 Volumes “Chise Lit”		“It is said to be the best history in the world.”
9:359	7/10/1895	The Black Death		“plagues of former generations”
*This list does not include references to the hundreds of entries where Wilford simply wrote “spent the day reading.”
After Wilford Woodruff’s death in 1898, his library was divided between Emma’s two sons Asahel Hart and Abraham Owen Woodruff.   According to the probate records of his estate, Wilford’s library consisted of 150 volumes at the time of his death.  The individual titles of those volumes are not listed.