Review
======
Title: Millions Shall Know Brother Joseph Again: The Joseph Smith Photograph
Author: S. Michael Tracy
Publisher: Eborn Books
Genre: Non-fiction
Year Published: 2008
Number of Pages: 264
Binding: n/a
ISBN: 1-890718-61-0
Price: $39.99
Reviewed by Jeffrey Needle
Religion is funny stuff. Those of us attracted to faith and religious beliefs are sometimes prone to excess, especially when occasions arise where we have an opportunity to see and evaluate the artifacts of that faith. Sacredness of place and time, of object and person, are demonstrated and, without proper care, can replace true devotion.
One need only consider Lourdes and Medjugorje to understand how apt people are to latch on to a sacred place, or a sacred item, as something to be desired.
Mormons don't have relics and rosaries, and they don't have scapulars with pictures of Joseph Smith hanging around their necks. But they do have sacred places -- temples, to be precise. And yet, with all the holiness of the temple and its rituals, Latter-day Saints still manage to avoid the excesses of some other religious traditions.
The discovery of "The Joseph Smith Photograph,' discussed at length in this fascinating book, opens a new chapter in Mormonism's regard for the founding Prophet. No, there's nothing sacred about a photograph, but there has been something of an evolution in the way Mormons have depicted Joseph Smith. Do we now have a definitive and accurate photograph of Joseph?
When the book arrived, I wasn't altogether certain how I would approach the subject. Yes, an authentic photograph of Joseph Smith would be an interesting and eye-opening addition to the already huge corpus of knowledge about the Prophet. But did it really matter what he looked like? The discovery of the Shroud of Turin ignited a firestorm of commentary on the value of knowing exactly what Jesus looked like. But, in the end, does it really matter?
To my surprise, the book turned out to be a fascinating journey through history, a detailed and compelling study of how one determines if a photograph is authentic. Tracy leads the reader through the amazing story of the development of the photographic arts in the time of Joseph Smith. He discusses the methods, the evidence, and the large number of purported photos of the Prophet. Honestly, I didn't know there were that many!
Carefully explaining the historical and forensic methods utilized to authenticate photographs, Tracy builds a case for the photo in question as an authentic, and completely unique, image of Joseph Smith. Of course, he doesn't quite close the deal, as they say, because he can't. How can one decide with any sureness that the picture is authentic?
The photograph itself is reproduced on the cover of the book. I asked myself, "Is this really what Joseph Smith looked like?" If so, then the reality seemed a bit far from what we all have been accustomed to. Even as I look at the photograph as I write this review, I wonder how, if it is authentic, the many paintings of Joseph Smith could have gotten it so wrong?
The source of this image is taken from "the Scannel Daguerreotype," an artifact stored in the records of the RLDS Church (now the Community of Christ). The author considers the arguments, pro and con, for the authenticity of the photo. His presentation is balanced and fair, although one cannot mistake that Tracy accepts the authenticity of the image. After reading his research and his arguments, I come away all abuzz about the possibility of this being a real photo of Joseph Smith, but I'm holding my counsel, not ready to come down on either side of the argument.
The world of photographic authentication is more complicated than I'd ever imagined. Tracy has dissected the process and presented it in a readable and lively format. What a treasure trove of scientific knowledge this is! Yeah, some of it is a bit grisly -- how many skulls can you look at before you begin to feel a bit creepy?
But I go away from this book enriched, not by any conclusions I've reached, but rather by the science, by the processes, and by the possibility that this question can one day be answered with some finality.
Alas, no pilgrimages please! No healing baths, no bowing and praying! The picture is, after all, something less than a holy image. Instead, it presents the fascinating possibility that we've been quite wrong in our physical depictions of the Prophet. In fact, the author has an entire photograph devoted to "Alleged Photographs of Joseph Smith." What a variety of depictions we see! And our paintings aren't any more consistent. It seems that Joseph is able to morph from one image to another, even from the grave!
I suspect that students of Joseph Smith, as well as those interested in this little-understood aspect of scientific query, will love this book. I enjoyed it much more than I had anticipated. The research will continue, of course, but Tracy's fine book emerges as one of the most thorough and sympathetic treatments of the subject I've ever seen. In fact, I don't recall ever seeing a book-length treatment of this subject.
Get the book, and judge for yourselves.
Jeff Needle
Association for Mormon Letters
jeff.needle@gmail.com<www.aml-online.org>
<www.LDSBookLovers.com/Needle.html>
