Their statement assuredly is true; and yet by a careful revision of the work they did, and the correction of a few errors in dates and other details, the work has been brought to a still higher state of perfection. Where grammatical accuracy was violated in the original record it has been corrected, so far as observed; but no historical or doctrinal statement has been changed. Some changes will be observed in the matter of the biographies of the leading Elders of the early days of the Church. When a man of prominence connected himself with the Church, the Prophet Joseph usually gave a biographical sketch of him in his own history, then writing; and sometimes these biographies were long and unduly interrupted the movement of events. To rid the body of the work of this encumbrance it was decided to place all biographical matter in marginal notes; this made it necessary to condense very much those found in the Prophet's narrative, while severe brevity--after accuracy--has been the aim in those prepared by the annotator. The most careful attention has been given to this work by those engaged in its preparation. The manuscript has been read to the Church Historian, President Anthon H. Lund, with constant reference to the original manuscript history and all copies of it published in the _Times and Seasons_ and the _Millennial Star_; and also to various editions of the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Book of Commandments published at Independence, Missouri, in 1833, {VII} where the revelations received by the Prophet Joseph Smith are contained. In the course of this work slight variations in phraseology were discovered in the several editions of the Doctrine and Covenants, that doubtless arose through careless proof reading; and as between the most carefully proof-read editions and the revelations found in the manuscript _History of the Church_ there were some slight differences, which were corrected to agree with the original manuscript; but the corrections were never made until first submitted to the First Presidency, and carefully considered and approved by them. We therefore feel that this great care has resulted in presenting to the Church and to the world the revelations which the Prophet Joseph Smith received in their most perfect form; and that a standard is created for all future publication of these revelations. Speaking of the revelations that appear in this book, it is proper to remark that one of the chief values of this volume of the _History of the Church_ will arise from the fact that the greater number of those revelations received by the Prophet Joseph Smith is published in it--one hundred and one, out of a hundred and thirty-three found in the Doctrine and Covenants; and as they are published in connection with the circumstances existing when brought forth, the student of the doctrines of the Church will find this volume of almost incalculable benefit to him.