Important Pictures in Roger Launius' Illustrated History

The pamphlet version of Roger Launius' An Illustrated History of the Kirtland Temple from 1986 has a few images that are worth having or knowing about.

There are two images of the interior basement on (p.7), showing the foundation and support beams in the upper image and the rock masonry pillars used for support on the bottom.

There is the detail of the columns in the sanctuary of the Kirtland Temple (p.8), which shows more of the column and the context than this picture from the web.

A picture taken in 1900 of the interior of the restored Kirtland Temple, which had been taken over by the RLDS in the 1880s, shows kerosene lamps to light the sanctuary (p.9).

On (p.14), Launius shows the earliest known photograph of the Kirtland Temple from the RLDS archives, from 1875. The house on the right of the temple was a Methodist meeting house. The house on the left, Launius speculates, may have been the church's bank building in the 1830s.

There is the longitudinal section on (p.17), courtesy of the Historic American Buildings Survey of 1934, though Launius only shows the left half of that image. Launius also cites the Architectural Forum Magazine from March 1836, as assessing the quality of the work done.

The workmanship, moldings and carving show unusual skill in their execution. Many motives are used in the various parts, varying in outline, contour and design, but blended harmoniously. (p.17)

Launius tries to give a picture of the staircase on (p.18), but this picture of the staircase that I found on gives a better idea of the space.

Launius shows how the doors to the pews are arranged in the sanctuary (p.22).

Launius provides a picture of the pulpits on (p.23), but the pictures of the pulpits and their context on the web are more expressive.

Bibliographic Record

Roger D. Launius, Illustrated History of the Kirtland Temple, Independence, MS (Herald Publishing House), 1986, 216 pages.

Roger D. Launius, An Illustrated History of the Kirtland Temple: Photographs from the RLDS Archives and the Graphic Design Commission, Independence, MS (Herald Publishing House), 1986, 34 pages.