title History of Joseph Smith. Most of the material that resulted in History of Joseph Smith had been originally published in serial form over a 25-year period in the Times and Seasons, the Deseret News, or the Millennial Star. Revision, renaming and republication Beginning in 1902, a general authority of the LDS Church, B. H. Roberts, was commissioned by the First Presidency to work through History of Joseph Smith and correct errors, add corroborative material, improve the narrative, and provide commentary on the events. Roberts's extensive revision of the work resulted in it being republished by church-owned Deseret Book between 1902 and 1912 as the seven-volume History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The work soon became nicknamed the Documentary History of the Church, a usage which has only recently been abandoned by Mormon historians. Today, the work is published in essentially the same form created by Roberts. Deseret Book currently publishes the work in paperback under the shortened title History of the Church. Volumes History of the Church is published in seven volumes. The dates covered by each volume is as follows: Volume 1: 1805 – December 1833 Volume 2: January 1834 – December 1837 Volume 3: January 1838 – July 1839 Volume 4: July 1839 – May 1842 Volume 5: May 1842 – August 1843 Volume 6: September 1843 – June 1844 Volume 7: June 1844 – October 1848 Status in the LDS Church History of Joseph Smith was initially published as an official publication of the LDS Church. Although Roberts's History of the Church has never been granted "official history" status, it nonetheless is widely used in the church and is often cited in the sermons and magazine articles written by general authorities and other church leaders. In 1851, extracts from what would become History of Joseph Smith were published in a church publication entitled Pearl of Great Price. This book was canonized by the LDS Church on October 10, 1880. The portion of History of Joseph Smith that was canonized consists of Smith's recitation of events between his birth in 1805 and May 1829 and is officially entitled Joseph Smith–History. Although History of the Church is no longer an official publication, it is the most-cited source in two histories of the church which are official publications of LDS Church: Our Heritage: A Brief History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints