From Mission to Madness: Last Son of the Mormon Prophet
Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1998. First edition. Cloth. 357pp. Brilliant and charismatic, David Hyrum Smith was a poet, painter, singer, philosopher, naturalist, and highly effective missionary for the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. In this richly detailed biography, Valeen Tippetts Avery chronicles the life of the last son of Joseph Smith and his first wife, Emma. Avery draws on a large body of correspondence for details of David's life and on his poetry to reveal his personality and emotional struggles. She tells of his mental deterioration, starting with a probable breakdown early in 1870 and ending with his death in 1904 in the Northern Illinois Hospital and Asylum for the Insane in Elgin, where he had been confined for twenty-seven years.
This biography comes from the short-lived period where University of Illinois Press did relatively small runs of books in hardback which-once they went out of print-started to climb in value. A very nice copy of a fantastic, fascinating look at a complex character. Condition: Very good+. Item #7184
ISBN: 0252023994
Price: $100.00