Ellen White: Woman of Vision

Chapter 38—The 1911 Edition of the Great Controversy Not a Revision

As C. H. Jones, manager of Pacific Press, was preparing in early January 1910 for the annual constituency meeting to be held later in the month, he took stock of the accomplishments in 1909, the work in hand, and some things to which attention needed to be given in 1910. On January 5 he wrote to his close friend and long associate in the work of the church, W. C. White, listing things he felt needed consideration. Among these, under the heading “Great Controversy, English,” he wrote: WV 525.1

It will be necessary to print another edition of this book on or before July, 1910. You are aware that the plates are worn out. New plates ought to be made before printing another edition. WV 525.2

Ellen White owned the printing plates for her books; whatever would be done with The Great Controversy would be done under her direction and at her expense. In these matters W. C. White served as her business agent. WV 525.3

The work that eventually was done in what has come to be known as the 1911 “revision”—a term too strong for what actually took place—was not contemplated in the initial plans. In other words, no need was seen for changes in the book at the time that plans were initiated for resetting the type, nor were any alterations in the E. G. White text contemplated, beyond technical corrections as might be suggested by Miss Mary Steward, a proofreader of long experience and now a member of Ellen White's staff. Work on the book was undertaken in a routine fashion and according to plan. Miss Steward reviewed the book, checking spelling, capitalization, punctuation, et cetera. She finished her work late in February. By mid-March Pacific Press had copy for resetting the first five chapters and a portion of the sixth. WV 525.4

In the meantime, as a corollary to resetting The Great Controversy, thoughts began to develop both in the minds of Ellen White and the members of her staff regarding certain features of the new reset book. These related not only to the physical features of the book—typeface, illustrations, et cetera—but also to the text itself. Mrs. White wrote of this to F. M. Wilcox, chairman of the Review and Herald board: WV 525.5

When I learned that The Great Controversy must be reset, I determined that we would have everything closely examined, to see if the truths it contained were stated in the very best manner, to convince those not of our faith that the Lord had guided and sustained me in the writing of its pages (Letter 56, 1911). WV 526.1

These and other considerations led W. C. White to reach out for helpful suggestions. He reported: WV 526.2

We took counsel with the men of the Publishing Department, with state canvassing agents, and with members of the publishing committees, not only in Washington, but in California, and I asked them to kindly call our attention to any passages that needed to be considered in connection with the resetting of the book (WCW to “Our General Missionary Agents,” July 24, 1911 [see also Selected Messages 3:439, 440]). WV 526.3

As suggestions began to come in, he called a halt to typesetting and the making of printing plates. At this point 120 pages had been sent to the type foundry for platemaking, and type had been set for 100 more pages. WV 526.4