Talmage analyzed during his career was John A. Koyle's Relief Mine, the Dream Mine, in Spanish Fork, Utah. Koyle had allegedly prophesied that the mine would offer the LDS Church resources and lead many to invest in the mine, believing it contained valuable materials. Talmage assessed the mine and determined it was worthless. LDS Church writings and service Religious literary works Talmage was the author of several religious books, including The Articles of Faith, The Great Apostasy, The House of the Lord, and Jesus the Christ. These volumes remain in print and are still widely read in the LDS Church. In 1905, the church's First Presidency requested Talmage write the book that would come to be known as Jesus the Christ. They requested he compile his lectures about the life of Jesus Christ into a book that would be widely available to church members and other readers. At that time, Talmage had many responsibilities with his church callings, his family, and his profession that kept him from starting the book but nearly ten years later, following another request from the First Presidency, he started writing Jesus the Christ. The significance that was placed on the writing of this book about the life of Christ is seen in the First Presidency's setting aside space in the Salt Lake Temple for Talmage to work on the book uninterrupted and without distractions. Jesus the Christ was published in September 1915, just under one year after Talmage started writing it. In 1911, the First Presidency learned that a man named Max Florence, a former theater owner in Salt Lake City, had gained unauthorized access to the Salt Lake Temple. He had taken numerous photographs of the interior and was holding those photographs for ransom, but the church president at that time, Joseph F. Smith, would not negotiate with Florence on the subject. Florence said that he would sell the pictures to anyone who named a high enough price. A few days after this news was publicized, Talmage suggested to the First Presidency that they commission their own photographs of the Salt Lake Temple and publicize them as a book of photos. Smith authorized Talmage to get the pictures and also write on the subject of the temple to accompany the publication of the photographs. The House of the Lord was completed and published shortly thereafter in 1912. Church service Before he became a member