Although, beginning in the summer of 1882, Ellen White was able to make her
writing work her primary responsibility, yet she did not become a hermit. Part
of each year continued to be spent in ministering to our people in campmeeting
appointments. Returning to Healdsburg in December 1883 from one such trip, she
spent the next several months working steadily on the manuscript for the 1884
Great Controversy. On February 14,1884, she wrote this:
"I am writing every day. Mean to get my book finished next month, and can
scarcely write a letter, I am so intent on this matter."—Letter 37, 1884.
Here is an added insight into how that book was written: "While mother was
writing this book, many of the scenes were presented to her over and over again
in visions of the night. The vision of the deliverance of God's people, as given
in Chapter XL, was repeated three times; and on two occasions, once at her home
at Healdsburg and once at the St. Helena Sanitarium, members of her family,
sleeping in near-by rooms, were wakened from sleep by her clear, musical cry,
'They come! They come!' (See page 636 of Great Controversy.)
"Several times we thought that the manuscript of the book was all ready for the
printer, and then a vision of some important feature of the controversy would be
repeated, and mother would again write upon the subject, bringing out the
description more fully and clearly. Thus the publishing was delayed, and the
book grew in size." W. C. White, letter dated July 25, 1911 (Notes and Papers
Concerning Ellen G. White and the Spirit of Prophecy, pp. 167-168).
A.L. White adds this information:
"Mrs. White then wrote out those parts of the history which she had not
previously presented. Prayerful meditation would bring clearly to her mind the
views given years before. Then, as she strove to perfect the narrative by
filling in the gaps, the Lord gave her in night visions new views or a renewal
of former views, which resulted in the rewriting in greater detail of many
scenes already described.
"Usually Mrs. White wrote comprehensively upon the subject she was presenting,
and there was occasionally a difference of opinion between her and the
publishers regarding the quantity of matter that should be used. She was best
pleased when the subject was presented very fully, but the publishers were
pleased to have the matter condensed or abbreviated so that the books would not
be too large. To this she would sometimes consent. But there were times when,
after important chapters were prepared in as brief a form as possible and sent
to the printer, a new presentation of the subject would be given to Mrs. White,
and she would then write additional matter and insist upon its incorporation.
"Mrs. White was not a mere mechanical writer. The deep impressions often made
upon the reader of her writings are due in part to her own intensity of spirit
while she wrote. Occasionally, she referred in correspondence to her emotional
depth of feeling as she penned the solemn messages from heaven to a perishing
world. " —A. L. White, Ellen G. White: Messenger to the Remnant, pp. 57-58.
By March 27, most of the manuscript was at the Pacific Press, being prepared
for publication, but she was still hard at work on the remaining portions. On
that date, she wrote to her son William C. White:
"I see by appointments that there are only three weeks left for me to close up
my book. Dr. [E.J.] Waggoner [assistant editor of the Signs] is fearful I will
not get through, but I mean to by that time, if possible."
"P.S. Bring me another good fountain pen.—Letter 44, 1884.
E.J. Waggoner, editor of the Signs of the Times, had an opportunity to read the
first chapter prior to publication, and made this comment:
"We have no fear but that deep interest will be taken in this book, judging from
what we have read. We long for its appearing; and so would thousands of our
readers if they knew its value. We do not wish to institute comparisons, but we
can assure our friends that this volume will not fall below the very best of the
writings of Sister White that are already published."—March 27, 1884.
By April, the book was nearing completion, and W. C. White said this:
"Most of the chapters are now written, but a few subjects are not yet
completed. The work of writing the latter part of this volume has been
accomplished slowly and with great difficulty. The scenes and events to be
described were of such solemn importance, and the subjects pressed so constantly
on the mind of the author, that she has frequently worked beyond her strength.
. The manuscript is now so nearly completed that we can speak confidently of the
contents of this volume.
"It begins with the destruction of Jerusalem, and gives brief sketches of the
experience of the Christian church to the close of the great controversy between
righteousness and sin. Several chapters are especially devoted to an exposure
of the great deceptions by which the arch rebel has led the world captive, and
to a vivid portrayal of his subtlety in introducing these heresies one by one
into the church. .
"For a wide range of subjects and the presentation of facts of general interest,
this work surpasses all her former volumes."—Review, April 8, 1884.
In the same issue of the Review, it was explained that the book would be
available in two bindings, one olive green with the title, The Great Controversy
between Christ and Satan, and the other black with the title, Spirit of
Prophecy, Volume 4. Either binding would sell for a dollar a copy.
It was also explained that the plan was to sell the forthcoming book to
Adventists through colporteurs who would call on their homes and show them the
book. It is of interest that the church had not yet grasped the fact that the
truth about the great controversy should go to all the world, not merely to the
church.
With the manuscript completed, Ellen attended campmeetings in the northwest
during June, and returned in early July as the type was being set at the Pacific
Press. The October 2 issue of the Signs reported that the book was finally off
the press. It had been published simultaneously by both the Pacific Press and
the Review and Herald in editions of 5,000 copies each. But not only were
Adventists buying the book, the world was purchasing it also. The initial West
Coast print-run was sold out in less than a year, and within three years, 50,000
copies had been printed and sold by both presses.
A month later, Ellen would be 57.
During 1884 alone, having been freed from the incessant Battle Creek
controversies, Ellen produced 50 articles for the forty-eight 1884 issues of
the Signs, 52 articles in the fifty-one 1884 issues of the Review, and completed
the 549-page book, Great Controversy.
A General Conference Session convened in November 1884; and, on the last day of
the Session, the following action was taken in regard to the newly published
revision of Great Controversy:
"Resolved, That we hail with great pleasure the publication of volume 4, The
Great Controversy; that, while we anxiously looked for it, expecting that it
would give important information concerning the closing scenes of this world's
history, we can freely say that it more than meets our most sanguine
expectations; and that we earnestly urge all our people to read it carefully and
prayerfully, and to use all proper means to place it before the world." Review,
November 25, 1884.
At this Session, Ellen was asked to visit the churches and institutions in
Europe. Praying about it, she received no indication from the Lord that she
should not go. So she went. She was in Europe from 1885 to 1887.
Some may think that she should not have made that trip. But, in the absence of
Inspired guidance on a matter, it is not wrong for a Christian to consider
counsel from fellow believers.
"The decision of the conference is passed, 'that W.C. White accompanied by his
wife, shall accompany his mother to Europe.' . . I told the conference I could
not consent to go unless the writings that are now unfinished could be
completed this winter."—Letter 61, 1884.
Interestingly enough, this trip to Europe was very definitely in God's
providence. After completing the second (1884) edition of Great Controversy,
there was no plan in Ellen's mind that she would ever again redo all that work-and enlarge it yet a third time! But, arriving in Europe, she met people, saw
places, and learned of incidents, which firmly convicted her that, even though
she had already finished an edition of that book, she must do another one! So a
sizable amount of that two-year stay in Europe was spent collecting data for a
second revision of the book, part of which was completed while there.
In addition, she was shown in vision that the great controversy message must be
given the widest circulation to those outside the church. This intensified her
conviction to revise the book again. It also affected the format of the book.
She felt she should use a more literary writing style, provide more detail on
historical incidents, and omit the three-page section in the Snares of Satan
chapter which spoke of Satan's plan to destroy the church. This book, she felt,
should be written for the world to read, not just the church. (Those three pages
were later reprinted for church members in Testimonies to Ministers, pages
472-475.)
These intensified objectives resulted in a much larger book. And it all began
with that trip to Europe.
On Monday, July 13,1885, her party left St. Helena for Oakland. On July 20 they
reached Battle Creek, and on August 1 left Boston. Two weeks were spent in
England, and then they crossed the channel to France on September 2. Rather
quickly, Ellen realized she had found a wealth of Great Controversy resource
material in Europe.
"Morning came as they entered Basel. As they began to see buildings, including
castles on the top of high rocks and mountains, the first thought that came to
Ellen White's mind was—having recently finished writing The Great Controversy—'whether the Reformers had not visited these places. ' "—AL. White, The Lonely
Years, p. 293.
Nine months after arriving in Europe, in a letter penned June 11, 1886, to
friends back home, she wrote that her little party was comfortably settled into
their travel program while making Basel, Switzerland, their base—and that
typing of her notes and enlargements for the NEXT revision of Great Controversy
was already in progress!
"We now number ten, W. C. White and Mary and Ella are well. Ella has grown to be
quite a girl since you last saw her. Sara McEnterfer is well, and just as busy
as she can be taking letters by dictation and writing them out on the calligraph
(typewriter]. Marian's health is about as it usually is. She is at work on
volume four, Great Controversy . .
"One week ago last Tuesday we returned home from visiting the churches in
Switzerland. We traveled with our horse and carriage, and by thus doing obtained
a view of the places and scenery of interest which we should not have done had
we ridden on the (train] cars. "—Manuscript 20, 1886.
As the above quotation indicates, she frequently traveled in order to obtain
further data for the forthcoming revision.
"While in Valence, Ellen White was intensely interested in visiting the
Cathedral of Saint Apollinaire where she observed the officiating priests with
their white robes and over these a surplice of black velvet trimmed with gold
braid, with the form of the cross marked in the back. This exposure while in
Europe to the grandeur and impressiveness of the Catholic worship services
proved helpful to her as she described Catholic worship in the book, The Great
Controversy. (See pp. 566, 567.). "—Ellen G. White in Europe, 1885-1887 p. 35.
On April 25 they went on one of several visits to the home of the Waldenses:
"William and Mary, Elder Bourdeau, and Ellen White went up the mountain to
Bobbio to visit the cave where a group of Waldensian refugees had been
suffocated in the smoke of a fire ignited by their persecutors. W. C. White was
not with his mother on her first visit, so these sites of heroic martyrdom were
of thrilling interest to him. As a child he had sat at his mother's knee as she
read the history of the Waldenses to him and to James White, and now he was
visiting the very scenes where the Waldensian history had been made.
"The little party ate their lunch near the cave and, after a time of prayerful
consecration, descended the mountain to Villar Pellice, where an open-air
meeting had been scheduled. This innovation was necessary because of the large
crowds coming to the meetings.
"Early in the week there was yet another sight-seeing trip, this one to
Angrogna, the valley of groans. The little group walked out over a beautiful
green tableland. A white-haired Vaudois led them to a place where the plain
ended abruptly, falling off hundreds of feet. The Waldenses here had been
attacked by their enemies who had come from Turin to burn their village." —D.A.
Delafield, Ellen G. White in Europe, p. 179.
Another of these fact-gathering trips took her to Zurich. On May 12,1887, her
party journeyed there by train. Upon their arrival, they immediately went to the
cathedral and nearby chapel where Zwingli preached nearly 350 years earlier.
"For several days we have been thinking of making a short visit to Zurich. We
have been reading the account of Zwingli's work, and before leaving we want to
see his city. Mother is especially anxious to see Zurich, and we have some
business matters to attend to also."—W. C. White, letter file A-2, p. 225.
"On reaching the site, Ellen White recognized the surroundings. According to
teen-age Patience Bourdeau (later Sisco] as told by her to the author, Ellen
White served as a guide to the group, pointing out features of interest and of
how things appeared in Zwingli's day. As Ellen was engaged at the time in the
enlargement of The Great Controversy, her comment, 'We gathered many items of
interest which we will use' (Manuscript 29, 1887), is readily understood."—AL
White, The Lonely Years, p. 363.On June 28,1887, she and her group left
Scandinavia and two days later arrived in London. The trip to America by steamer
took nine days, from August 3 to 11. Believers everywhere were eager to have her
speak in their meetings, but her primary concern was to return home so she
could finish the second enlarged revision of Great Controversy.
"Ellen White was eager to press on to California and her home, to bury herself
in the final work on the enlargement of The Great Controversy and Patriarchs
and Prophets. "—AL White, The Lonely Years, p. 375.
The trip to Europe accomplished more than the enlarging of Great Controversy.
Ellen recognized that, if that book was to be sizably added to, it would be well
to enlarge the other books which covered the panoramic Eden-to-Eden great
controversy story, and also add two more books to make it a full five-volume
set: Patriarchs and Prophets, Prophets and Kings, Desire of Ages, Acts of the
Apostles, and Great Controversy.
While she was in Europe, so many copies of the 1884 edition had printed and sold
that C.H. Jones, manager of the Pacific Press, wrote to tell her that soon new
plates would have to be made. That helped crystallize her decision that the
second revision must be completed soon.
On May 18, 1887, she sent the completed first four chapters of the forthcoming
third edition to the Pacific Press. In her writings, she often referred to it as
"Volume Four," since it was considered an enlarged edition of the 1884 edition,
which was Spirit of Prophecy, Volume 4. A letter, written by W. C. White,
accompanied the package:
"At last we are able to send you the corrected copy for the first four
chapters of volume 4. About the time that your letter came about resetting it,
we were pressing the matter of having it translated into the French and German .
. I proposed that the translators and proofreaders of both the French and
German, with Brother and Sister Whitney, and Marian and myself, should meet
every day, and read, and discuss a chapter. By this means the translators would
get the spirit of the work, and would translate better, and the proofreaders,
also having a part in this reading, would be prepared to detect the errors in
the first reading, instead of the last one, as is often the case now.
"We carried the work through, although it cost a great effort. As we
read, we found some things that were figurative expressions that were hard to
translate, and other things that were easy to be understood by the class of
people to whom it was at first thought that the book would go, expressions
familiar to Adventists, and those who had heard their preaching, but which must
be very blind to the ordinary reader, not especially familiar with religious
phrases.
"Again, we found parts of the subject that were very briefly treated because the
reader was supposed to be familiar with the subject. Mother has given attention
to all of these points, and has thought that the book ought to be so corrected,
and enlarged, as to be of the most possible good to the large number of
promiscuous readers to whom it is now being offered. And she has taken hold with
a remarkable energy to fill in some parts that are rather too brief. "—W. C.
White letter to C.H. Jones, Letter file A-2, p. 245.
The 1884 edition had been written in a "folksy," easygoing style. But it was
now discovered that such idiomatic writing did not translate as well. In
addition, the 1884 edition assumed that the reader was acquainted with many
words and phrases common to Adventism.
The best way to compare the three editions of Great Controversy is to open and
scan through the books, read here and there, and note the effect of enlargement.
Some people think that it is terrible that the 1884 Great Controversy was
enlarged into the 1888 edition. There is nothing wrong with that! Oh, how we
wish the 1888 edition were three times as big as it now is! The 1884 edition is
a most excellent one, but so is the 1888. (Please note that we do not discuss
the 1911 edition in this comparison of enlarged editions. This is because the
1911 edition was not an enlargement; more on that later.)
In the 1884 edition, for example, Huss and Jerome were allotted three pages; in
the 1888 edition, 23 pages were devoted to their work and martyrdom. Several
chapters were added, including the chapters on the French Reformation and the
Netherlands and Scandinavia. Several other chapters were greatly enlarged. This
would include the excellent study on obedience to the law of God in chapter 14
(Later English Reformers), which was new material.
In discussing the enlargement, W.C. White noted what they had discovered in
Switzerland, when they worked with translators; whereas the 1884 edition tersely
explained the essential details, the 1888, which was to be later translated
into a number of different languages, would have to include much more detail in
order that the non-Adventist mind could understand it.
"In some places more scriptures are introduced, and all the way, more footnote
references are used.
"You can hardly imagine how differently some things sound when read to sharp,
intelligent people, who know they must understand each sentence in order to
translate it right, and who are ignorant of the Advent Movement, and experience
than when read where all who hear are familiar with the subject. And as many of
the American readers, to whom the book will go, are nearly as ignorant as those
who read with us, it seemed to us that what needed to be changed in form of
expression to make it plain for translation ought to be the same for your new
(English) edition. . I think that the additions will swell the work one hundred
pages of its present size. " — W. C. White, letter to C.H. Jones, Letter file
A—2, p. 245.
In a statement made to the General Conference Session on October 30, 1911, W.C.
White reviewed the writing of the third (1888) edition:
"In 1885 Mother and I were sent to Europe, and there the question came up
regarding its translation into German, French, Danish, and Swedish. As Mother
considered this proposition, she decided to make additions to the matter.
"Mother's contact with European people had brought to her mind scores of things
that had been presented to her in vision during past years, some of them two or
three times, and other scenes many times. Her seeing of historic places and her
contact with the people refreshed her memory with reference to these things, and
so she desired to add much material to the book. This was done, and the
manuscripts were prepared for translation.
"After our return to America, a new edition was brought out much enlarged. In
this edition some of the matter used in the first English edition was left out.
The reason for these changes was found in the fact that the new edition was
intended for world-wide circulation.
"In her public ministry, Mother has shown an ability to select from the
storehouse of truth, matter that is well adapted to the needs of the
congregation before her; and she has always thought that, in the selection of
matter for publication in her books, the best judgment should be shown in
selecting that which is best suited to the needs of those who will read the
book.
"Therefore, when the new edition of Great Controversy was brought out in 1888,
there were left out about twenty pages of matter —four or five pages in a place—which was very instructive to the Adventists of America, but which was not
appropriate for readers in other parts of the world. "Much of the research for
historical statements used in the new European and American editions of Great
Controversy was done in Basel [Switzerland], where we had access to Elder
Andrew's large library, and where the translators had access to the university
libraries."— W. C. White, Statement to General Conference Session, October 30,
1911 (Notes and Papers, pp. 165-166).
At a later time, W.C. White recalled those days back in Switzerland when the
third edition was being written: "When we reached those chapters relating to the
Reformation in Germany and France, the translators would comment on the
appropriateness of the selection of historical events which Sister White had
chosen, and in two instances which I remember, they suggested that there were
other events of corresponding importance which she had not mentioned.
"When this was brought to her attention, she requested that the histories be
brought to her that she might consider the importance of the events which had
been mentioned. The reading of the history refreshed to her mind that which she
had seen, after which she wrote a description of the event."—W.C. White, letter
to LE. Froom, December 18, 1934 (see also 3 Selected Messages, p. 465). In that
same letter, W. C. White mentioned how Ellen's visits to so many different
places in Europe helped bring back to mind scenes and incidents that should be
mentioned in the book.
"I was with Mother when we visited Zurich and I well remember how thoroughly her
mind was aroused by seeing the old cathedral and the marketplace, and she spoke
of them as they were in the days of Zwingli.
"During her two years' residence in Basel, she visited many places where events
of special importance occurred in the Reformation days. This refreshed her
memory as to what she had been shown and this led to important enlargement in
those portions of the book dealing with Reformation days."—W. C. White to LE. Froom, December 18, 1934 (see also 3 Selected Messages, p. 465).
The following statement is a powerful commentary on how Ellen gathered
information that would help her write what she had been shown in vision. It also
explains why she needed history books to help her establish locations. "One
Sabbath, at Basel, I was reading Wylie's History of Protestantism, telling about
the experience of the Roman armies coming against the Bohemians, and how a
large body of persecutors would see a little body of Protestants, and become
frightened and beat a hasty retreat. As I read it to Mother, she interrupted me
and told me a lot of things in the pages ahead, and told me many things not in
the book at all. She said, 'I never read about it, but the scene has been
presented to me over and over again. I have seen the papal armies, and sometimes
before they had come in sight of the Protestants, the angels of God would give
them a representation of large armies that would make them flee.
"I said, 'Why did you not put that into your book?' She said, 'I did not know
where to put it.' "—DF 105b, W. C. White Statements Regarding Mrs. White and Her
Work, December 17, 1905.
While in Europe, W. C. White contacted European printing and graphics firms, and
arranged for copperplate and lithoplate artwork to be included in the
forthcoming third edition of Great Controversy and the book, Patriarchs and
Prophets, The last portion of the 1888 edition which Ellen wrote was the
Introduction at the front, which was dated May 1888. You will want to read it
carefully for yourself; it can be found in the front of both the 1888 and 1911
edition. A month earlier, in April, she wrote a letter to D.L. Canright, who,
she had been shown, was about to leave the church. In it she mentions the third
edition, which she was working on:
"I am writing out more fully the volume of Great Controversy containing the
history of the fall of Satan and the introduction of sin into our world; and I
can have a more vivid sense of this great controversy between Christ, the Prince
of light, and Satan, the prince of darkness, than I have ever had before.
"As I see the various devices of Satan to compass the ruin of erring man, and
make him like himself, a transgressor of God's holy law, I would that angels of
God could come to earth and present this matter in its great importance. Then I
feel so intensely for souls who are willfully departing from light and knowledge
and obedience to God's holy law. As Adam and Eve believed the lie of Satan, "Ye
shall be as gods,' so these souls hope through disobedience to rise to greater
heights, to gain some flattering position. I am so anxious that, while others
are sleeping, I spend hours in prayer that God will work in mighty power to
break the fatal deception upon human minds and lead them in simplicity to the
cross of Calvary."-Letter April 20, 1888 (5 Testimonies, pp. 625-626).
Ellen White was 60 years old in 1888. This enlarged edition had 26 full-page
illustrations. The 13-page appendix at the back was a very good one. None of the
appendices were written by Ellen White. The various sections of the 1888
appendix were written by J.H. Waggoner, M.C. Wilcox, and Uriah Smith, and then
copy-read by Marian Davis.
Although copyrighted in 1888, this edition was not printed until September 1889
by Pacific Press and, for reasons discussed in the next section, not until
later by the Review. In fact, the canvassing leaders, working out of Battle
Creek, were soon told that that book was not to be sold. What is the story
behind this?