The care of the Ellen G. White manuscript file constitutes a third and very interesting phase of the work of the White Estate trustees. As mentioned in a former article, the 72-drawer letter file cabinet, holding these manuscripts, is found in the smaller of the two vaults. Certain classifications of the more than 5,000 separate and distinct documents, comprising some 45,000 pages of typewritten matter, are indicated by key marks and dates on the drawers of this filing cabinet.
Before describing the content of this file and speaking of the use which is made of the manuscripts, we shall mention the steps which were taken in preparing this material and placing it on file. While the procedure we now outline relates more particularly to the period of the work while Mrs. White made her residence in Cooranbong, Australia, and St. Helena, California, it differed only in minor detail from that followed through most of her life, and serves to illustrate how the writings were handled.
Each of the manuscripts—except a few interviews and the sermons, which were stenographically reported—was originally written out in longhand by Mrs. White. The handwritten document was then placed with one of her secretaries for copying. Many times the original copy was carefully written, and needed few, if any, changes in spelling, punctuation, or grammar. Sometimes, however, when she had written very rapidly with the desire to place on paper, as quickly as possible, the thoughts that were pressing upon her mind, the copyist would find it necessary to make certain grammatical corrections. The secretaries were authorized by Mrs. White to make these mechanical, editorial changes.
The typewritten copy, thus transcribed, with whatever editorial changes had been made, was returned to Mrs. White for her further study. Wide spacing between the lines allowed opportunity for such additions and alterations in phraseology as she might wish to make in an effort to convey her thought more clearly to the reader. She often added words, phrases, and sentences to make the presentation more emphatic and as perfect as possible. With these revisions, the manuscript was again copied, and then, in most cases, again passed through her hands for final reading and her signature.
The communication was then ready to be sent to the person or group for whom it was intended, or for preservation for some future use. A copy was recorded in the letter copy books, one copy was placed in Mrs. White's personal file in her writing room, and another was placed in the manuscript file, all three of which are now preserved in the "Elmshaven" vault.
It goes without saying that no one aside from Mrs. White had the right to make any alteration which would affect the thought being presented. This right has never been given to, or assumed by, any one in her employ. As has been stated, the changes in phraseology which were made by her helpers were submitted to her for approval.
Mrs. White was very desirous that the messages entrusted to her should be presented in the manner to convey most perfectly to others the thoughts imparted in the revelations given to her. These revelations were often in the form of an enlightenment of the mind, many times through scenes or views which passed before her. She must then describe as best she could these revelations, and in doing this, she would endeavor to use the best language at her command. This being the case, any mechanical editorial changes made by her secretaries, or any alterations or additions which she herself might make to bring out the thought more clearly or more forcefully, were fully justified.
In speaking of the words chosen in recording what had been revealed to her, she stated in the Review and Herald of October 8, 1867:
"Although I am as dependent upon the Spirit of the Lord in writing my views as I am in receiving them, yet the words I employ in describing what I have seen are my own, unless they be those spoken to me by an angel, which I always enclose in marks of quotation."
Mrs. White, in telling of the work of those who were employed as her secretaries in handling her writings, and of erroneous ideas of their work, made the following statement in 1906:
"While my husband lived, he acted as a helper and counselor in the sending out of the messages that were given to me. We traveled extensively. Sometimes light would be given to me in the night season, sometimes in the daytime before large congregations. The instruction I received in vision was faithfully written out by me, as I had time and strength for the work. Afterward, we examined the matter together, my husband correcting grammatical errors and eliminating needless repetition. Then it was carefully copied for the persons addressed, or for the printer.
"As the work grew, others assisted me in the preparation of matter for publication. After my husband's death, faithful helpers joined me who labored untiringly in the work of copying the testimonies, and preparing articles for publication. But the reports that are circulated, that any of my helpers are permitted to add matter or change the meaning of the messages I write out, are not true."—"The Writing and Sending Out of the Testimonies to the Church," page 4.
All through the years, the denomination has recognized that the messages which were imparted to Mrs. White came through an enlightenment of the mind, and not through mechanical, verbal inspiration. In 1883, when considering the reprinting of the early published testimonies, the General Conference set forth these principles, and went on record as favoring the republication of the "Testimonies" with such grammatical and verbal corrections as seemed necessary. We quote its actions as published in the Review and Herald for November 27, 1883:
"32. Whereas, Some of the bound volumes of the 'Testimonies to the Church' are out of print, so that full sets cannot be obtained at the office; and,
"Whereas, There is a constant and urgent call for the reprinting of these volumes; therefore,
"Resolved, That we recommend their republication in such a form as to make four volumes of seven or eight hundred pages each.
"33 Whereas, Many of these testimonies were written under the most unfavorable circumstances, the writer being too heavily pressed with anxiety and labor to devote critical thought to the grammatical perfection of the writings, and they were printed in such haste as to allow these imperfections to pass uncorrected; and,
"Whereas, We believe the light given by God to His servants is by the enlightenment of the mind, thus imparting the thoughts, and not (except in rare cases) the very words in which the ideas should be expressed; therefore,
"Resolved, That in the republication of these volumes, such verbal changes be made as to remove the above-named imperfections, as far as possible, without in any measure changing the thought."
With this brief discussion of the editorial work on the E. G. White writings,* let us return to our consideration of the Ellen G. White manuscript file.
While in Australia, instruction was received from the Lord regarding the care of the manuscripts. In response to the message, "Gather up the fragments that nothing be lost," special effort was put forth, about the year 1898, to gather together all the manuscript matter within reach, and this was placed on file in more systematic and accessible form. The manuscripts were grouped according to years, and then classified and numbered. After the institution of this filing system, the manuscripts were each given a designating file credit at the time of final copying, which indicates its location in the file and serves as a source reference for the card index to the file.
The documents comprising the manuscript file have been divided into two general groups of about equal number. Letters, addressed to individuals, churches, institutions, or groups of laborers (or in other words, letters by nature), were placed in the letter file section. General article matter, sermons, and interviews were classified as 'manuscripts, and were filed in the manuscript section. This phase of the classification is indicated in the file credit borne by each document.
There are three items of information indicated in each "Elmshaven" manuscript file credit. First, the general classification of the document, whether a letter or a manuscript; second, the serial number it carries in the file for a given year; and third, the year in which the document is filed, which in most cases is the year of writing.
Analyzing the file credit, "H-64-1906," we find the document to be a letter, "H" being the initial of the person addressed; filed as letter number "64" in the "1 9 0 6" file drawer. The term "Letter" may be substituted for the prefixing initial, and the credit would read, "Letter 6 4-1 9 0 6." In like manner "MS-1 1 7- 1 90 8" would indicate a "general manuscript," number "1 1 7," filed in the "1908" file drawer.
Inasmuch as the two component groups, manuscripts and letters, form one file, we speak of the combined assemblage as the manuscript file.
While this is marked as covering the years 1847 to 1915, we have but few original Ellen G. White documents of the very early years. For many years all the letters and manuscripts sent out were in the handwriting of the author or were copied by hand. Therefore, the preservation of these documents necessitated either the laborious work of making two copies or of inducing the recipient to make a copy and return the original. Consequently, it is not strange that the files for the early years are meager and incomplete.
Early in 1885, a caligraph, as one of the early makes of typewriters was called, was purchased in Healdsburg, California, and most of Mrs. White's letters after this were transcribed on the machine and were copied into letter press books; consequently, we have reason to believe that the files for the thirty-year period from that time till she died in 1915, are very nearly complete.
Questions which very naturally arise in the mind of the visitor are these: Of what value are these files today? How are they related to what appears in print? and, What use is made of the documents found therein?
A considerable portion of the matter found in the manuscript file was selected for publication by Mrs. White, in conjunction with her associates, and appeared in many periodical articles and the later published works. Much of the matter, therefore, is in print.
Many lines of instruction given during the seventy years of Mrs. White's work, were repeated again and again. In most cases these are well represented in works now in print; consequently, if the manuscripts duplicating this instruction were now to be published, there would be a repetition of general subject matter already available to all.
Two other classes of matter composing the manuscript file, might be spoken of as that which is local as to time and that which is local as to place. Instruction was often sent out to meet some current issue or crisis in the work, and was thus limited as to time. When the particular issue was past, there was not necessarily a general need for the instruction, unless a similar crisis were to arise. When such an issue arises, then the instruction given in the years past, meeting issues similar in principle, is equally applicable. An illustration will make this point clear.
All through the years, from 1844 to the close of her life, Mrs. White was called upon to meet fanaticism. Much general instruction along this line appears in. print, but there are also some specific statements meeting various fanatical movements, which, because the issues seemed mostly local as to time, or because of limited space in the E. G. White books, were not included in the published works.
However, if a fanatical movement should arise today, similar to those which have been met in the past, that instruction meeting those past manifestations would become applicable because of the similarity in the underlying principles in the movements.
Manuscripts spoken of as local as to place, were addressed to laborers in a particular field, and gave instruction regarding their work in that field. This may be illustrated by the instruction sent to those in charge of the work of the St. Helena Sanitarium. More than 200 pages of manuscripts covering a period of thirty years fall into this grouping. While this is of great value to those engaged in the administrat4on of the work at the St. Helena Sanitarium, and they have copies which are studied diligently, yet there is no general call for this instruction which is localized in character.
A fifth class of communications found in the manuscript file is that made up of letters which were strictly confidential,—messages of a personal nature from the Lord to those engaged in forwarding the work,—messages of courage, of counsel, of warning, and sometimes of reproof. These documents have no legitimate general field of circulation, the principles of instruction having been largely covered by published articles of a less personal nature.
The trustees have recognized that there were in the manuscript files certain lines of instruction not so well covered by the publications already in circulation. This point may be made clear by referring to a recent publication.
Much of the valuable counsel regarding medical missionary work was written at a time when there were but few medical institutions or physicians among our people. This counsel was therefore limited in its circulation to a few leaders in the medical work, not having been put into print for general reading. In view of the rapid and large growth of the medical department of our work, not only in professional lines, but as an important branch of lay evangelism, the trustees, recognizing the value of such instruction for all our people, authorized the gathering of this material for publication and general circulation. As a result, in 1932 "Medical Ministry" appeared, bringing within the reach of all who care to secure it, valuable instruction not so well covered in previous volumes.
On the other hand, there is not, as some have thought, a large amount of unpublished matter representing lines of instruction of general importance not now covered by the published works. All through her life, Mrs. White labored untiringly to bring forth in published form the instruction given to her for the church. Near the close of her work she was able to say:
"Through nearly the whole of my long experience I have endeavored, day by day, to write out that which was revealed to me in visions of the night. Many messages of counsel and reproof and encouragement have been sent out to individuals, and much of the instruction that I have received -for the church has Veen published in periodicals and books, and circulated in many lands."—"Writing and Sending Out of the Testimonies to the Church," p. 12.
A study of the Ellen G. White writings which are available to all, reveals that the most important phases of instruction are comprehensively covered in the published works.
The Card Index
To make it possible to refer to the many subjects dealt with in the 45,000 pages of manuscripts and the 2,000 Ellen G. White articles appearing in our periodicals, a card index has been prepared. The work on this was begun thirty years ago, but at first it was rather rudimentary, and not until the last four years has it neared completeness. Now, this subject index, recorded on 12,000 cards, is to the manuscripts and periodical articles what the printed "Index" is to the Ellen G. White books.
In the next article we shall speak of the definite provisions made by Mrs. White for the handling of the manuscript files after her decease.
