Rare indeed it is in these changing times that a book lives
on through a century in ever-increasing demand and takes its place in current
reading by the side of books dealing with present issues. Yet such is the
enviable record of Early Writings of Ellen G. White. Through the years there have been many printings of
the several editions. It now appears in a fifth american edition.
This popular little volume is rightly named, being a
republication of the first three Ellen G. White books --Christian Experience
and Views of Mrs. E. G. White, first
printed in 1851; A Supplement to Experience and Views, issued in 1854; and Spiritual Gifts,
Volume 1, which appeared in 1858.
The wide and lasting popularity of Early Writings may be attributed to the unwaning desire to possess
and study the messages of information and encouragement which came early to the
church through the prophetic gift.
The second printing of this matter was made in 1882 in two
small volumes--Experience and Views and
the Supplement comprising the
first, and Spiritual Gifts the
second. As to certain additions to the first of these original works and some
slight editorial changes made at that time, the publisher's preface states:
"Footnotes giving dates and explanations, and an
appendix giving two very interesting dreams, which were mentioned but not
related in the original work, will add to the value of this edition. Aside from
these, no changes from the original work have been made in the present edition,
except the occasional employment of a new word, or a change in the construction
of a
iv
sentence, to better express the idea, and no portion of the
work has been omitted. No shadow of change has been made in any idea or
sentiment of the original work, and the verbal changes have been made under the
author's own eye, and with her full approval."
The two companion books were also reissued as a single
volume in 1882 under the title Early Writings. In 1906 the type was reset to make the third American edition, which
has had wide distribution, meeting the ever-increasing demand. The paging of
this edition became the standard for all reference work and the subsequently
published indexes to the writings of Mrs. White.
The fourth edition of Early Writings was published in 1945. Forty years of printing and
reprinting made necessary new printing plates. As the type was reset the
content was held page for page with the edition it succeeded. Modern spelling
and current forms of punctuation were employed and a new preface reviewed
briefly the history of the book.
This fifth edition is characterized by a historical
prologue, added to furnish the reader with a knowledge of the times and
circumstances of the various portions of the book and by several appendix notes
provided to explain expressions and situations not so well understood now as at
the time of writing. There has been no change of the E. G. White text nor
change in the paging from the fourth edition which this succeeds, consequently
it harmonizes with the Comprehensive Index to the Writings of Ellen G. White.
In Experience and Views
is presented Mrs. White's first biographical sketch, briefly tracing her
experience through the advent movement of 1840-44. Then follow a number of the
earlier visions, many of which had first appeared in print in broadside or
periodical article form.
v
The Supplement
explains certain expressions of the earlier work which had been misunderstood
or misconstrued, and gives additional counsel to the church. Its publication
preceded by one year the first pamphlet bearing the title of Testimony
for the Church.
Spiritual gifts, Volume 1, being the first published account of the long-extended conflict
between Christ and His angels and Satan and his angels, is cherished for its
vivid descriptions and its compactness, touching as it does only the more
salient points. In succeeding years this brief story of the conflict was
greatly amplified in the four volumes of the Spirit of Prophecy, published 1870-84. After wide distribution, this
four-book set was replaced by the well-known and widely read Conflict of the
Ages Series, presenting the account in still more detailed form, as it had been
presented to Mrs. White in many revelations. Even though the fuller volumes--Patriarchs
and Prophets, Prophets and Kings, The Desire of Ages, The Acts of the Apostles, and The Great Controversy--present the conflict story in its more complete
form, the initial writing of the account as here presented in its brief,
clear-cut, simple form, will, with experience and views, always be in large
demand.
--The Trustees of the Ellen G. White Publications.
--Washington, D.C., March, 1963