Background
Published in 1992, the Encyclopedia contains nearly 1500 articles including several short un-attributed entries (the equivalent of Wikipedia stubs) in four volumes. The text is approximately one million words, and over 1850 pages including pictures, maps, charts, index, and appendices. The title for the Encyclopedia of Mormonism was chosen by Macmillan, the secular publisher that initiated the project.
There were over 730 contributors from a wide variety of fields, most of whom had LDS and academic backgrounds. A large number were professors at Brigham Young University, the flagship LDS Church-owned university. Most individuals contributed only one article and few submitted more than three or four. Notable contributors include Mormon historians Leonard J. Arrington, and Thomas G. Alexander, former Salt Lake City mayor Ted Wilson, noted non-Mormon LDS historian Jan Shipps, authors Steven R. Covey, Gerald N. Lund, and Richard Eyre, respected scholar and apologist Hugh Nibley, and a few members of LDS hierarchy like Paul Evans, H. David Burton, and Jeffery R. Holland.
The editor of the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Daniel H. Ludlow, states that he strove to make the volume as professional as possible. Most of the articles are written by Ph.D.s in their respective fields. LDS General Authorities (the spiritual leaders of the church) wrote little of the Encyclopedia; indeed, most contributors from church hierarchy were only tapped to write articles on the publications or institutions they directly administered or led. For impartiality and perspective, several non-Mormons were asked to write important articles. For example, Jan Shipps wrote on the outsider's interpretation of Mormonism, and Richard P. Howard, historian of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now the Community of Christ), wrote on his branch of the Latter Day Saint movement.
Read more about this topic: Encyclopedia Of Mormonism
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