From World’s Hope
notices throughout 1890 (volume 8)
Many rare historical
materials have not survived because they were in newspaper format and so viewed
more as ephemera at the time of publication. A classic example of this is
George Storrs’ Bible Examiner for 1871-73. The two years it was a weekly paper
do not appear to have survived – which is a great pity since those years might
have yielded useful historical information. Once Storrs’ paper became a monthly
magazine in 1873 and bound volumes were offered to the public, then it
survived.
So where oh where have
John Paton’s World’s Hope magazines gone? Above are advertisements found in
issues throughout 1890 (volume 8) offering bound volumes to whoever would buy
them for all but the first year (which we know has survived).
But whatever happened
to the other volumes listed above? Have they all failed to survive? Is there
anyone out there who can shed light on any further sources other than the
Detroit library system that likely has volumes 1-2, and the Almont library
system and Aurora University library that have some later issues? Many early associates of ZWT were attracted to
Paton’s theology and wrote letters to his magazine. The earlier years should
therefore be a useful historical source – if they still exist.
3 comments:
It would be nice if some of the Magazines would be found and scanned as this can really shed light on some things.
For Example The World's Hope January 15, 1904 Page 32 had a statement from John C. Sunderlin:
"We were greatly interested in the organization of the “Larger Hope Association," and would like to have our names added to the membership.—John C. and Kate Lunden Sunderlin."
Without scans of these magazines something like that may be hard to find out.
It is good for as many people as possible to have access to the material that is discovered; if only one or two ever see the material then there is always the potential for things to be missed. Also, if a writer quotes sources, it is good that readers have the opportunity to check the sources for themselves, if that is realistically possible.
I'd like to see the issues we don't have from the 1880s. I don't have high hopes that they'll be found. Our research suggests that under 1000 copies per issue were published. Zion's Watch Tower, in contrast, had a print run in 1883 of about 15,000, and issues from that era are still very rare.
Most of these magazines were trashed after reading.
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