The arrival of copies of The Desire of Ages in December and the acceptance of the book in the field marked for Ellen White and her staff the climax of book preparation in Australia. This point offers an opportunity in this biography to draw together a connected account of the work that it was hoped could be accomplished in a year or two but took seven.
When Ellen G. White left San Francisco for Australia in 1891, in her accompanying baggage were two precious four hundred-page volumes on the life of Christ. They were the center volumes in the four-book set titled The Spirit of Prophecy and known also as The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan. Volume 2, bearing the more specific title Life, Teachings and Miracles of Our Lord Jesus Christ, had been published in Battle Creek in 1877. The other carried the title The Death, Resurrection and Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ, and had been published a year later.
These two relatively small books were in the Australia-bound luggage because Ellen White planned that, away from the distractions of the work in North America, she would, with the assistance of Miss Marian Davis, who accompanied her, perfect and amplify the presentation they carried. It had been nearly fifteen years since they had come from the press, and Ellen White was eager to introduce into the story additional light and information that had come to her from time to time that had been set forth in her letters, periodical articles, and transcribed sermons. The projected volume, or volumes, would join the larger, more comprehensive Patriarchs and Prophets, just published, and The Great Controversy, issued in 1888. Together they traced the story of the Conflict of the Ages, and were prepared with both the church in particular and the world at large in mind as potential readers.
With Ellen White's knowledge of the situation in Australia she was not as sanguine in regard to the opportunities for literary work there as were her fellow workers, who were without the benefit of her prophetic insights. Mention has been made in the preceding chapters of her often futile attempts to work on the life of Christ. Some years provided more favorable opportunities than others. While Ellen White's work on the project was intermittent, Marian Davis kept right at the task. The latter often felt it was about finished and then would be frustrated and at the same time delighted when light was received by Ellen White in vision that, when written out, added rich sources of materials. The work on the manuscript stretched from 1892 through 1897 and into 1898. Even then, with the receiving of the finished book on December 10, 1898, there was still more to do on the life of Christ. That was presented in Christ's Object Lessons, published two years later. Now we will trace, rather sketchily, the story of the preparation of The Desire of Ages.
Initial Writing on the Life of Christ
In 1858 as Ellen White first wrote the account of what had been revealed to her in the great controversy visions of 1848 and 1858, she devoted fifty-two small pages to the life of Christ. Sixteen of these gave a very brief review of His ministry, and thirty-six were devoted to the few days of the last scenes of His life. These pages were expanded in volumes two and three of the Spirit of Prophecy series in 1877 and 1878; 387 larger pages were given to His general ministry and 254 pages to the Passion Week and His closing ministry. With Patriarchs and Prophets and The Great Controversy in the field, it was planned that the work, in its preparation called "The Life of Christ," would represent a further amplification, particularly of the account of the three years and more of the life and ministry of our Lord up to the Passion Week. It was to this that Ellen White and Marian Davis turned their attention in Australia.
It was early in 1873, while James and Ellen White were in California for the first time, that she began her writing on the life of Christ. Between this date and the spring of 1875, as her travels and other work allowed, she wrote somewhat intermittently. Portions were first published in the Review and Herald.
In 1876 she was again on the Pacific Coast, living in their new home in Oakland. James White, president of the General Conference, was detained in Battle Creek in administrative work. She had good literary help in her niece, Mary Clough, and she pushed ahead with her writing on the life of Christ.
The first drafts of her materials were in her own handwriting. Mary would edit the pages and put them into the form of a chapter, and then copy it. Of course, the finished work was also in handwritten form, for it was six or seven years later that typewriters came into use in Mrs. White's work. Every morning she would write diligently in her upstairs room. After the noonday meal she would go to Mary Clough's room, lie on a sofa, and listen as Mary read the material prepared from her first written draft. "The precious subjects open to my mind well," she wrote in early April.--Letter 4, 1876.
Writing at this time to her close friend Lucinda Hall, she declared:
I have a special work at this time to write out the things which the Lord has shown me.... I have a work to do which has been a great burden to my soul. How great, no one but the Lord knows. Again, I want to have my mind calm and composed. I want to have time to meditate and pray while engaged in this work.... This is a great work, and I feel like crying to God every day for His Spirit to help me to do this work all right.--Letter 59, 1876.
Bible study, visions, prayer, meditation, discussion with her literary assistant, even "hard thinking," all under the general superintendence of the Holy Spirit, were involved in the writing. "I feel great peace and calmness of mind," she noted. "There seems to be nothing to confuse and distract my mind, and with so much hard thinking my mind could not be perplexed with anything without being overtaxed."--Letter 13, 1876. "I cannot rush business. This work must be done carefully, slowly, and accurately. The subjects we have prepared are well gotten up. They please me."--Letter 14, 1876.
As the two women worked together with dedicated purpose, they had at hand for reference several standard works by other authors, such as William Hanna's Life of Our Lord, Cunningham Geikie's Life and Words of Christ, and most likely some others. The finished product gives evidence, for instance, that they made some use of Hanna's book. While there are no paragraphs or, to our knowledge, even complete sentences taken from it, there are phrases here and there that can be easily identified, and in some cases the order in Ellen White's presentation follows Hanna rather closely. Hanna and Ellen White were both covering the same ground, leaning heavily on the gospel accounts. In Ellen White's writing there appear interesting details found in neither the Gospel writers or the writings of commentators, points in which she deals in sufficient detail to make it very evident that her basic source in writing was the visions given to her. In these visions she witnessed, sometimes in panoramic views and at other times in great detail, the events in the life of the Lord.
Why Did She Copy from Others?
Responding to this question in 1928, W. C. White wrote significantly of how this reading aided her:
Notwithstanding all the power that God had given her to present scenes in the lives of Christ and His apostles and His prophets and His reformers in a stronger and more telling way than other historians, yet she always felt most keenly the results of her lack of school education. She admired the language in which other writers had presented to their readers the scenes which God had presented to her in vision, and she found it both a pleasure and a convenience and an economy of time to use their language fully or in part in presenting those things which she knew through revelation, and which she wished to pass on to her readers.--WCW to L. E. Froom, January 8, 1928.
W. C. White mentions to Froom several other reasons as well that are worthy of thoughtful consideration:
The great events occurring in the life of our Lord were presented to her in panoramic scenes as also were the other portions of the great controversy. In a few of these scenes, chronology and geography were clearly presented, but in the greater part of the revelation the flashlight scenes, which were exceedingly vivid, and the conversations and the controversies, which she heard and was able to narrate, were not marked geographically or chronologically, and she was left to study the Bible and history and the writings of men who had presented the life of our Lord to get the chronological and geographical connection.
Answering still further the questions put to him by Elder Froom in 1928, W. C. White explained further:
Regarding the reading of works of contemporary authors during the time of the preparation of these books, there is very little to be said, because when Sister White was busily engaged in writing, she had very little time to read. Previous to her work of writing on the life of Christ and during the time of her writing to some extent, she read from the works of Hanna, Fleetwood, Farrar, and Geikie. I never knew of her reading Edersheim. She occasionally referred to Andrews, particularly with reference to chronology.
The knowledge that Ellen White read from other authors, and at times employed some of their phraseology, has led some to lose sight of the fact that the many visions given to her by God through the years constituted the main source of her information and insights. Were it not for these visions, she would never have written on the life of Christ. Her reading was primarily an aid in presenting precious truths through her pen.
W. C. White mentioned Hanna, Fleetwood, Farrar, Geikie, and Andrews. He did not recall that she had read Edersheim, although recent study indicates that at some point she had. These were the books Ellen White had easy access to and was familiar with, and probably the ones she took with her to Australia. There were some others, but not a great number. It has been reported that there is evidence of some similarities in wording to expressions in twenty-five or thirty other authors. Ellen White did not carry a great library around with her, nor did she take such to Australia where she thought to stay only two years, or to New Zealand for the three months she expected to labor there. The time in New Zealand grew to ten months, as mentioned earlier, and she did considerable writing on the life of Christ while she wintered there.
The numerous authors some have referred to is most likely accounted for in the fact that it was a prevailing practice for one commentator to borrow the wording of another, considering truth common property. It could well be that some of the books Ellen White had easy access to may have contained materials traceable to a number of authors. Ingram Cobbin in his preface to his Condensed Commentary and Family Exposition of the Holy Bible, page iv, declared: "All the commentators have drawn largely from the fathers, especially from St. Augustine," and then points out the borrowings of one from another, naming authors so involved. See Ellen G. White and Her Critics, pages 404-407, for insights into the literary borrowing of commentators.
W. C. White in his letter to Froom made a further important point that should be taken into account:
Another purpose served by the reading of history, Life of Our Lord [Hanna, 1863], and Life and Epistles of St. Paul [Conybeare and Howson, 1851, 1852] was that in so doing there was brought vividly to her mind scenes presented clearly in vision, but which were, through the lapse of years and her strenuous ministry, dimmed in her memory.
The full W. C. White letter appears in Selected Messages 3:453-461, as a portion of appendix C.
The reader who turns to Ellen White's first writing in 1858 on the life of Christ as found in Spiritual Gifts, 1:28-79, or Early Writings, 153 to 192, will find a vivid and clear narration, at times enhanced by details found neither in the gospels nor the writing of others.
Work in Australia on the Life of Christ
So the work in Australia on the life of Christ did not consist in producing creatively, chapter after chapter, but rather in Ellen White's writing more fully what had been revealed to her on Christ's life in many visions. Her time was much taken up with the developing work in Australia; Marian Davis, of whom little has been said, was busily occupied in drawing out from the various E. G. White sources materials that would broaden and enrich the presentation of the 1870s. Writing of this a decade later, Ellen White explained:
I feel very thankful for the help of Sister Marian Davis in getting out my books. She gathers materials from my diaries, from my letters, and from the articles published in the papers. I greatly prize her faithful service. She has been with me for twenty-five years, and has constantly been gaining increasing ability for the work of classifying and grouping my writings.--Letter 9, 1903 (see also Selected Messages 3:93).
At another time, writing of Miss Davis' work, Ellen White explained:
She does her work in this way: She takes my articles which are published in the papers, and pastes them in blank books. She also has a copy of all the letters I write. In preparing a chapter for a book, Marian remembers that I have written something on that special point, which may make the matter more forcible. She begins to search for this, and if when she finds it, she sees that it will make the chapter more clear, she adds it.
The books are not Marian's productions, but my own, gathered from all my writings. Marian has a large field from which to draw, and her ability to arrange the matter is of great value to me. It saves my poring over a mass of matter, which I have no time to do.... Marian is a most valuable help to me in bringing out my books.--Letter 61a, 1900 (see also Selected Messages 3:91, 92).
In this letter she mentioned Marian as her "bookmaker."
Ellen White Writes on Christ's Life and Ministry
It was during her ten-month-long illness in 1892 that Ellen White actually began to do much writing on the ministry of Christ. In her diary for July 12, 1892, she noted: "This afternoon I wrote a number of pages on the life of Christ. I long for a large portion of the Spirit of God, that I may write the things which the people need." Thus she continued in the days that followed:
Wednesday, July 13: In the morning I wrote on the life of Christ, and in the afternoon I rode out....
Thursday, July 14:
After arranging my position so as not to bring any strain on arms or shoulders, I go to work at my writing, asking the Lord to bless that which I write. I know that He helps me.... I am now writing on the life of Christ....
Friday, July 15:
I cannot manage to keep comfortably warm in these high rooms, with only a grate fire. I have had two severe chills, and this has greatly increased my lameness in my shoulders and hips. But notwithstanding this, I was able to spend most of yesterday writing on the life of Christ. I praise the Lord because I feel a nearness to my Saviour.--Manuscript 34, 1892.
On that Friday, in a letter to O. A. Olsen, president of the General Conference, she wrote of how as she undertook this work she was almost overwhelmed with the subject:
This week I have been enabled to commence writing on the life of Christ. Oh, how inefficient, how incapable I am of expressing the things which burn in my soul in reference to the mission of Christ! I have hardly dared to enter upon the work. There is so much to it all. And what shall I say, and what shall I leave unsaid? I lie awake nights pleading with the Lord for the Holy Spirit to come upon me, to abide upon me....
I walk with trembling before God. I know not how to speak or trace with pen the large subject of the atoning sacrifice. I know not how to present subjects in the living power in which they stand before me. I tremble for fear lest I shall belittle the great plan of salvation by cheap words. I bow my soul in awe and reverence before God and say, "Who is sufficient for these things?"--Letter 40, 1892.
Only occasionally at this time did she mention specific visions in which scenes pertaining to the life of Christ passed before her, but in connection with first writing on the subject in 1858, the terms "I saw," "I was shown," or other terms indicating divine revelation and inspiration, frequently occurred. As the reader has observed the frequency of the visions given to Ellen White in Australia dealing with the various features of the work and the experience of individuals, it is reasonable to assume that as she wrote, views on the life and work of Jesus were frequently given to her also. In 1889 she told of how "the betrayal, trial, and crucifixion of Jesus" had passed before her point by point (Letter 14, 1889). In 1900 she wrote:
Heavenly scenes were presented to me in the life of Christ, pleasant to contemplate, and again painful scenes which were not always pleasant for Him to bear which pained my heart.--Manuscript 93, 1900.
As the work of preparing the book progressed, Marian Davis would search the writings for additional material, and Ellen White would fill in the gaps. Miss Davis gives a glimpse of her task as she pleaded that relevant materials be copied out from various sources, so that they would be more readily available. Such a request is more understandable when it is known that she herself did not use the typewriter.
Perhaps you can imagine the difficulty of trying to bring together points relating to any subject, when these must be gleaned from thirty scrapbooks, a half-dozen bound [E. G. White] volumes, and fifty manuscripts, all covering thousands of pages.--Marian Davis to WCW, March 29, 1893.
But it was Ellen White alone who performed the task of filling in to complete the text. Marian did none of the writing. Ellen White made mention of this at the death of Miss Davis in 1904, when her mind turned back to their labors together:
We have stood side by side in the work, and in perfect harmony in that work. And when she would be gathering up the precious jots and tittles that had come in papers and books and present it to me, "Now," she would say, "there is something wanted [needed]. I cannot supply it." I would look it over, and in one moment I could trace the line right out. We worked together, just worked together in perfect harmony all the time.--Manuscript 95, 1904.
Ellen White in New Zealand and Marian Davis in Melbourne
Ellen White spent most of 1893 in New Zealand, and as noted in telling the story of her work there, she made some progress in writing for her book. Marian had remained in Melbourne, so Mrs. White shipped off new material to her as she was able to write it. The correspondence between the two throws some light on how they worked together. When examining the chapters after Marian had worked on them, Ellen White would add here or there and strengthen the presentation. Further, as Ellen White would write an article on a particular incident or subject, she would place it in the hands of her office staff with the expectation that it might serve in several ways. Such articles often gave new and fresh materials for Marian to draw from.
While Ellen White was in New Zealand, Marian found that a course on the life of Christ was being offered in the newly opened Bible school in Melbourne. Eager to get all the background help she could for her task, she enrolled as a student. On October 18, 1893, she wrote to Ellen White:
The Bible class coming in the middle of the forenoon is rather inconvenient, but while the life of Christ is studied, I can't afford to lose it, for it is the only thing I have bearing on my work, and it wakes one's mind up to hear the matter talked over.
The interchange of correspondence during this year showed the concern of each of the two women as they made progress in the preparation of the manuscript. Prompted no doubt by attending the class, Marian suggested some topics she thought she would like to see represented in the book. Ellen White did not see the real need, and significantly declared:
These I shall not enter upon without the Lord's Spirit ... to lead me. The building a tower, the war of kings, these things do not burden my mind, but the subjects of the life of Christ, His character representing the Father, the parables essential for us all to understand and practice the lessons contained in them, I shall dwell upon.--Letter 131, 1893.
The Sequence of Events
As the materials were assembled and arranged into chapters, careful attention had to be given to the sequence of the events in the Saviour's life. To what extent and in what detail visions provided the sequence in ministry and miracles in Christ's life and work is not known. It is known that a decade earlier she made a significant request: "Tell Mary to find me some histories of the Bible that would give me the order of events."--Letter 38, 1885. The Gospel writers in their accounts did not help much in the point of sequence. In the absence of direct instruction from Ellen White, or clues in the materials themselves, Miss Davis consulted carefully prepared harmonies of the Gospels, and as the work progressed made considerable use of S. J. Andrews' Life of Our Lord Upon the Earth, which as noted on the title page took into account "Historical, Chronological, and Geographical Relations."
As the work was thought to be nearing completion in 1896, Marian, working on the three general introductory chapters, "'God With Us,'" "The Chosen People," and "'The Fullness of the Time,'" sought the counsel of Herbert Lacey of the Avondale school on the arrangement of paragraphs. He was a rather youthful graduate of the classical course offered at Battle Creek College. He made some helpful suggestions in the matter of the sequence of the thoughts presented, which, when it became known, gave birth in later years, when he was known as a seasoned college Bible teacher, to rumors that Lacey had a prominent role in authoring the book. In both oral and written statements he flatly denied such a role (DF 508, H. C. Lacey to S. Kaplan, July 24, 1936).
Titles for the Chapters
Chapter titles came rather naturally as the material was prepared, being representative of the subject matter. The Bible narrative suggested some, but there was some paralleling with chapter titles used by others who wrote on Christ's life. Selection was based on appropriateness and reader appeal. The title for the finished book would wait.
Reference has already been made to the use Ellen White made of William Hanna's Life of Our Lord and Cunningham Geikie's Life and Words of Christ twenty years earlier when she was in California writing on Christ's life. She was acquainted with Daniel March's Walks and Homes of Jesus, and his Night Scenes in the Bible. Geikie's Hours With the Bible and Edersheim's works on the Temple and its services and Jewish social life were known to her as well as some others. While, as noted these books did not constitute what might be said to be her sources, they proved an aid to her in her descriptions of places, customs, and historical events.
Extra-Scriptural Information
In her writing in the 1870s and again in the 1890s on the life and ministry of Christ, two significant points should be noted. First, she did not fall into the pitfalls that some of the other writers fell into; second, she often introduced significant extra-Biblical points in historical narrative not mentioned by the Gospel writers--points in which she deals in sufficient detail to make it evident that her basic source in writing was the visions given to her. Limitations in space allow for but three illustrations, drawn one each from the three E. G. White published accounts of the life of Christ:
At His trial before Herod, Spiritual Gifts, 1:51: "They spit in His face.... He meekly raised His hand, and wiped it off."
In feeding the five thousand, The Spirit of Prophecy 2:260, 261: "The disciples, seeing Him pale with weariness and hunger, besought Him to rest from His toil and take some refreshment. Their entreaties being of no avail, they consulted together as to the propriety of forcibly removing Him from the eager multitude, fearing that He would die of fatigue. Peter and John each took an arm of their blessed Master and kindly endeavored to draw Him away. But He refused to be removed from the place."
The resurrection, The Desire of Ages, 779, 780:" 'The angel of the Lord descended from heaven.' ... This messenger is he who fills the position from which Satan fell.... The soldiers see him removing the stone as he would a pebble, and hear him cry, 'Son of God, come forth; Thy Father calls Thee. "They see Jesus come forth from the grave."
A careful reading of chapters 79, 80, and 81 of The Desire of Ages will disclose many interesting details not cited by the Gospel writers. There could have been many more extra-Biblical points of interest in the book were it not for the fact that it was intended to be widely distributed among those not familiar with Ellen White's call and work. Marian Davis explained this in a letter written to J. E. White, December 22, 1895:
Since these books are sent out without explanation as to the authority by which the author speaks, it was thought best to avoid, as far as we could, statements for which the Bible seems to furnish no proof, or which to the ordinary reader appear to contradict the Bible. Better to give readers what they will accept and profit by than to excite criticism and questioning that will lead them to discredit the whole....
Sister White says that Christ was twice crowned with thorns, but as the Bible mentions only the second crowning, it was thought best to omit the first, or rather to give the second instead of the first.
A passage in The Spirit of Prophecy, volume 2, that pictures the solicitation of Peter and John for their Lord is another example of material not included, for the reason cited by Marian Davis. The new book was intended for wide distribution beyond the ranks of those who understood Ellen White's work.
The Proposal of Two Volumes
As the work progressed and the manuscript grew, the staff working at Sunnyside proposed issuing two volumes of about six hundred pages each. W. C. White felt that if this plan met the approval of the publishers, the materials for the first volume would be ready in March or April, 1896 (9 WCW, pp. 198, 199). Assuming this would be done, Ellen White was reading the manuscript for the first volume (Letter 90, 1896), and in writing to Edson on February 16, 1896, she indicated that "we now have it about ready for the printer"--Letter 144, 1896. At Cooranbong they were in the midst of the Bible institute, and Ellen White jotted in her diary on February 18:
In the afternoon Brother and Sister Prescott came. We had a good visit with Sister Prescott. Brother Prescott was with Marian in the interest of the book "Life of Christ." He is reading it, for it is the last reading before publication.--Manuscript 62, 1896.
So Ellen White and her staff thought; but it did not work out that way. Three or four months later there was more material to be added. Wrote Ellen White on June 1, 1896:
In the last discourses reported, Marian has had precious matter to insert, and this has necessitated her obtaining a new set of copies with the addition.
In this letter to Elder Haskell she wrote of ambitious plans for book production, making reference to the decision to lift the parables out of the forthcoming "Life of Christ" and issue them in a separate volume:
Sister Burnham ... is now to work with me in getting out books which I am anxious to prepare. The book on temperance comes first, then Testimony No. 34, and then the parables which Sister Davis will get out in a small book; then close up the second volume on the "Life of Christ": then the life of the apostles, then to finish the second book of Old Testament history. You see I have work to do.--Letter 167, 1896.
On June 19, Ellen White was still producing material that needed to be included in the early chapters of the book. She wrote: "I am writing upon subjects which stir every fiber of my being. The preexistence of Christ--how invaluable is this truth to the believer!"--Manuscript 65, 1896.
Who Will Publish It?
This was a time, too, when the matter of the publisher had to be settled. Consideration had been given to offering the manuscript to Fleming H. Revell, who had handled Steps to Christ in a very acceptable manner. W. C. White wrote:
[Mother] says that there are people who will be reached by the publications through outside publishers, who are not likely to get them from any of our agents; and she believes that much good has been accomplished through our placing Steps to Christ in the hands of Revell to publish.--8 WCW, p. 36.
W. C. White felt that there were important and far-reaching advantages of Revell doing the publishing. He mentioned one, perhaps little known to the average person: "He is brother-in-law to Moody, who is the leading American evangelist and [who] as far as I can see has the lead in evangelical literature."-- Ibid., 35.
Both SDA publishers, the Review and Herald and the Pacific Press, had issued a number of the E. G. White books, but things had become complicated since the enlarged and strengthened General Conference Association was handling denominational book publishing. That organization carried the responsibility of negotiating with the printers, and sent much of the work to the nearby Review and Herald. By contract, the Pacific Press stood in a reasonable degree of independence, and Ellen White could negotiate with them directly. The experience of the General Conference Association in publishing Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing (a spinoff of the "Life of Christ" manuscript), particularly in the matter of illustrations, led W. C. White on May 10 to exclaim, "Never, never, never!" (9 WCW, p. 436). Working through a second party in getting out books just didn't work well.
On May 6, 1896, Ellen White wrote Edson:
I have decided to negotiate with Pacific Press to publish "Life of Christ." We are now waiting for them to obtain cuts to go in the book. The first book is completed; the second is in the process of completion.--Letter 150, 1896.
Decision on the Title
Up to this point the project had been referred to as the "Life of Christ," and it was assumed that that would be the title. With the possible exceptions of The Great Controversy and the Testimonies, Ellen White did not select the titles for her books. As the time approached when a final decision on the title had to be made, suggestions came from various ones in Australia and America. Writing to C. H. Jones, manager of the Pacific Press, on October 22, W. C. White said, "As regards the title, I do not wish to say much till I have the criticism of others."--11 WCW, p. 20. Some, he felt, were "a hundred miles nearer being appropriate than the best of the others that have been recommended to us." He promised to send a cable after consulting "the wise men here, and have Mother's opinion, and that of Sister Davis." The suggestion of the publishers narrowed down to "The Desire of All Nations" and "The Desire of Ages," both based on Haggai 2:7, "The desire of all nations shall come."
On November 9, he wrote Jones:
We came to agreement, after much consideration and discussion, to propose that the title for the first book shall be "The Desire of Ages." Before the title page is printed, we will decide whether it is better for both books to carry this title, or if we can select another title for the second volume.--The Desire of Ages, 51.
Illustrations and Finance
At the time The Desire of Ages was published, Adventist publishing houses had limited capital to invest in large books, and the authors at times assisted in providing funds for illustrations and initial expense such as typesetting and the making of the printing plates. With the decision that the book would be published by the Pacific Press, in Oakland, California, interest at both the author's end and the publishing house turned to these arrangements. With Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, handled by the General Conference Association as publishers and the Review and Herald as printers, the results as far as illustrations were concerned proved disappointing; many of the cuts had to be made over. With The Desire of Ages there was, over a period of months, quite a volume of correspondence, the examining of proofs, et cetera, for it was determined that the illustrations had to have the author's approval.
On July 16, 1896, Ellen White wrote of the financial side in a letter to Mrs. Wessels in South Africa:
The manuscript for the "Life of Christ" is just about to be sent to America. This will be handled by the Pacific Press. I have employed workers to prepare this book, especially Sister Davis, and this has cost me $3,000. Another $3,000 will be needed to prepare it to be scattered broadcast through the world in two books. We hope they will have a large sale.--Letter 114, 1896.
While in the United States, W. C. White was able to give attention to the illustrations, consulting with the Pacific Press and with the artist, W. A. Reaser, in New York City (11 WCW, p. 32).
The Last Touches
In July Ellen White was still writing on the closing scenes of the life of Jesus. Her diary for July 28 shows how deeply she felt about her Subject:
In writing upon the life of Christ I am deeply wrought upon. I forget to breathe as I should. I cannot endure the intensity of feeling that comes over me as I think of what Christ has suffered in our world. He was a "man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief": "he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed," if we receive Him by faith as our personal Saviour!--Manuscript 174, 1897.
A letter written to W. C. White on December 12, 1897, reflects the joy of finishing a long, protracted task:
Marian seems cheerful. The last chapters are done. "Oh," she says, "I could never, never have completed the book had you not been right here where you could supply the live links necessary. Now the life of the book is fully kept up to the close."
And I feel very much relieved and do not feel as if I am stealing if I take up other subjects before the book is closed. But nearly everything I could write has been on the matter which concerned the book, that she could select some things for the book and Maggie [Maggie Hare, who took Fannie Bolton's place] could make articles of the subjects for the papers. I shall now breathe more freely.--Letter 209, 1897.
The manuscript for the second volume went to the publishers in mid-January, 1898.
Checking Proofs and Illustrations
The next few months entailed the checking of proofs of the text of the two volumes as the type was being set. Ellen White, as well as Marian Davis and W. C. White, gave very careful attention to this. Close scrutiny was also given to the artwork, including many new designs. Let it not be supposed that Ellen White did not concern herself with such details. She was paying for the paintings, and she wanted them right. On December 20 she wrote to C. H. Jones:
I wish to say to you that I am sadly disappointed in the cuts prepared for such a book as the "Life of Christ." I consider that if Brother Reaser accepts such figures, his eye and taste has lost its cunning. You cannot expect me to be pleased with such productions. Look at these figures critically, and you must see that they are made from either Catholic designs or Catholic artists. The picture of Mary has a man's face; the representations of Christ with the two fingers prominent, while the others are closed, is wholly a Catholic sign, and I object to this. I see but very little beauty in any of the faces, or persons.--Letter 81a, 1897.
The reading of the proofs at times called to Ellen White's mind some things she wanted to add. In a letter written in mid-February, 1898, she stated, "Matters must be prepared on the 'Life of Christ,' and after I thought it was done. In reading the manuscript, I saw that some other things must be written."--Letter 8, 1898.
The making of changes in the manuscript after it had been sent to the publisher, and the changing of the text in pages already set in type, was frustrating to the publishers and expensive all the way around. W. C. White wrote to C. H. Jones on July 14, 1898:
The getting out of this book is a great enterprise, and though it costs us much in money and in labor and in patient forbearance, we are confident that when issued, it will be worth, to the cause, all that it has cost and many times more. And while we may truly say that it is a trying thing to work along with author and publisher so far apart, yet it may be that the book is enough better to pay for all this.
As I now have opportunity to see the volume, and the value of what Mother is now writing, I daily feel to thank the Lord that she is here in Australia, where she is comparatively free to write what the Lord presents to her mind.--12 WCW, p. 96. (Italics supplied.)
The Desire of Ages first came from the press in two beautiful art volumes, with continuous numbering of pages. Shortly thereafter it was published in a single volume of 865 pages. Very near the close of the year, December 10, 1898, copies arrived at Cooranbong and were eagerly examined by Ellen White, W. C. White, and her staff of workers (The Desire of Ages, 386). The monumental task was completed. Now the book would bless millions in the years to come.
The first edition of The Desire of Ages was distributed largely to the public through literature evangelists. Then the Pacific Press turned to the production of what is termed a "trade edition"--the book in less elaborate form, to be sold largely to Seventh-day Adventists.
The publishers chose to issue it in a Testimonies-size page, using smaller type and putting it out in a cloth binding for $2. It carried an appendix and a subject index, and was a rather stubby volume of 1,042 pages. In this form it was not popular and had a limited life span. Soon the trade book printing was done from the same plates as were used for the colporteur edition, but without full-page illustrations.
A Book That Should be in Every Home
On May 21, 1900, Ellen White wrote:
God would be pleased to see The Desire of Ages in every home. In this book is contained the light He has given upon His Word. To our canvassers I would say, "Go forth with your hearts softened and subdued by reading of the life of Christ. Drink deeply of the water of salvation, that it may be in your heart as a living spring, flowing forth to refresh souls ready to perish."--Letter 75, 1900.
Looking back in 1906, Ellen White freely attributed the truths set forth in the books tracing the great-controversy story to the work of the Holy Spirit. She mentioned only three of the Conflict books, for Prophets and Kings and The Acts of the Apostles were not yet published.
How many have read carefully Patriarchs and Prophets, The Great Controversy, and The Desire of Ages? I wish all to understand that my confidence in the light that God has given stands firm, because I know that the Holy Spirit's power magnified the truth, and made it honorable, saying: "This is the way, walk ye in it." In my books, the truth is stated, barricaded by a "Thus saith the Lord."
The Holy Spirit traced these truths upon my heart and mind as indelibly as the law was traced by the finger of God, upon the tables of stone, which are now in the ark.--Letter 90, 1906 (Colporteur Ministry, 126).