Messenger of the Lord

How Categories of Literary Production Were Developed

During her most productive years, especially after 1881, Ellen White maintained a steady stream of letters, sermons, periodical articles, and books. These materials were further processed by her literary assistants into other forms for publication. Sermons became periodical articles, and letters, sermons, and articles were often reassembled into book form. The output was prodigious as the pages of the Review and Signs attest, plus the books that came forth from her pen during the last thirty-five years of her life. MOL 115.5

Diaries. The White Estate has some 60 diary/journals belonging to Ellen White that trace back to 1859. Some record daily events, much as we would think of a diary today, while others are simply ruled blank books that she used for writing letters or manuscripts of a general nature. It is not uncommon to find a range of several years’ writing in a single journal, years that might overlap with writing in other journals. This is due to the fact that she regularly passed these books to her secretaries for copying. Thus several books might be in use at the same time, some being in the copyists’ hands, while she continued her writing in another available journal. MOL 116.1

Letters. Editing Ellen White’s letters before mailing involved more than typing her handwritten manuscripts. W. C. White noted the process in a letter to his mother after receiving a long one from her to A. C. Bourdeau (4,000 words). He said that Mary, his wife, “will try to fix it as she has strength.” ⁴⁹ “Fix it” meant that grammatical corrections were expected. This kind of editorial assistance can easily be seen when one compares hastily written hand copies with the typewritten edited copies. MOL 116.2

Sermons and Periodical Articles. Many of Ellen White’s sermons were stenographically recorded. Mary K. White and Mary Clough, as well as others, often prepared sermons for publication. Both church papers sought these articles on a regular basis. This schedule was not easy to maintain because of travel interruptions and other pressing writing goals. To make it easier for all concerned, especially for her hard-pressed assistants, Ellen White gave permission to the editors of the Review and Signs to take the typewritten manuscripts and prepare them for their particular needs. In doing so, they were to “drop out the personal matter and make it general, and put it to whatever use you may think best for the interests of the cause of God.” ⁵⁰ MOL 116.3

Although the editors had earned this trust, they changed the fewest possible words and sentences to fit their needs. This accounts for the slight differences between the periodical article and the same material used later in a book. MOL 116.4

Books (other than the Testimonies). During the 1890s, several books were in process simultaneously, including Gospel Workers, Steps to Christ, ⁵¹ and The Desire of Ages ⁵²—the first, a complete compilation, and the last two, largely compilations and rearrangements of previously written material. MOL 116.5