{{Short description|1912 book by James E. Talmage}} {{About|the book by James E. Talmage|religious places called the "house of the Lord"|Place of worship|the song by Phil Wickham|House of the Lord (song)}} {{distinguish|House of Lords|Lord House}} {{Infobox Book | name = The House of the Lord: A Study of Holy Sanctuaries, Ancient and Modern | image = File:The_House_of_the_Lord.png | image_caption = | author = James E. Talmage | country = United States | language = English | series = | subject = | genre = | publisher = The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | pub_date = 1912 | english_pub_date = | pages = 238 | isbn = | dewey = | congress = | oclc = | preceded_by = | followed_by = }} '''''The House of the Lord: A Study of Holy Sanctuaries, Ancient and Modern''''' is a 1912 book by James E. Talmage that discusses the doctrine and purpose of the temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Published by the LDS Church, it was the first book to contain photographs of the interiors of Latter-day Saint temples.
On September 16, 1911, the ''Salt Lake Tribune'' published an account of individuals who had secretly taken photographs of the interior of the Salt Lake Temple while it was undergoing renovation.<ref name = wadsworth >{{cite book |first= Nelson B. |last= Wadsworth |chapter= Epilogue: The Max Florence Affair |chapter-url= http://signaturebookslibrary.org/?p=21614 |title= Set in Stone, Fixed in Glass: The Mormons, the West, and Their Photographers |url= http://signaturebookslibrary.org/?p=21285 |place= Salt Lake City, Utah |publisher= Signature Books |year= 1996 |orig-date= 1992 |pages= 355–59 |isbn= 1-56085-024-8 }}</ref> The photographers had written to the church's First Presidency in a blackmail attempt. The church was offered the photographs for $100,000. If the church refused to pay, the photographers threatened to publicly display the photographs.<ref name = wadsworth/><ref name = walgren>{{cite journal |first= Kent |last= Walgren |url= https://dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V29N03_9.pdf |title= Inside the Salt Lake Temple: Gisbert Bossard's 1911 Photographs |journal= Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought |volume= 29 |pages= 1–43 |date= Fall 1996 }}</ref> Church president Joseph F. Smith was outraged and refused to deal with the photographers.<ref name = wadsworth/><ref name = walgren/>
In response to this report, Talmage wrote to the First Presidency and proposed the church pre-empt the revelation of the photographs by authorizing the publication of a book that contained high-quality photographs of the interior of temples.<ref name = seely>{{cite journal |first= David R. |last= Seely |url= http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/review/?vol=12&num=2&id=366 |title= Explaining the Temple to the World: James E. Talmage's Monumental Book, The House of the Lord |journal= FARMS Review |volume= 12 |issue= 2 |pages= 415–26 |year= 2000 }}</ref> Talmage also proposed that the book could contain an explanation of the purpose and importance of temples to Latter-day Saints.<ref name = seely/> The First Presidency agreed with Talmage's proposal and on September 22 assigned Talmage to produce such a book.<ref name = seely/> The book was completed on September 30, 1912. During the time he was working on the book, Talmage was ordained as a church apostle in December 1911.<ref name = seely/>
''The House of the Lord'' contained 46 photographic plates with descriptive captions and included photos of the interiors and exteriors of the six temples that built by 1912: the Kirtland, Nauvoo, Salt Lake, St. George, Logan, and Manti temples.<ref name = seely/> The majority of the photos—31 of them—were of the interior of the Salt Lake Temple, including one of the temple's Holy of Holies.<ref name = seely/> In the 1968 edition of the book, the photograph of the Holy of Holies was omitted.<ref name = seely/>
Talmage's book "had a significant and long-lasting effect on nonmembers and members alike".<ref name = seely/> The book has gone through a number of editions and remains in print. In October 2010, an adapted excerpt from the book was published by the LDS Church in its official magazine.<ref>{{cite journal |first= James E. |last= Talmage |url= https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2010/10/a-history-of-temples?lang=eng |title= A History of Temples |journal= Liahona |date= October 2010 }}</ref> In 2000, Signature Books published a 1912 first-edition reproduction.
==Sample of photographic plates== <gallery class="center"> File:Salt Lake Temple Holy of Holies.png|The Holy of Holies in the Salt Lake Temple File:Salt Lake Temple Celestial Room.jpg|The Celestial Room in the Salt Lake Temple File:CelestialRoomSLT3b18939u.jpg|The Celestial Room in the Salt Lake Temple File:SpiralstaircaseSLT3b18940u.jpg|A spiral staircase in the Salt Lake Temple File:Salt Lake temple baptismal font.jpg|The baptismal font in the Salt Lake Temple File:Salt Lake Temple Telestial Room.JPG|The Telestial Room in the Salt Lake Temple File:Salt Lake Temple Garden Room.JPG|The Garden Room in the Salt Lake Temple File:Salt Lake Temple Terrestrial Room.JPG|The Terrestrial Room in the Salt Lake Temple </gallery>
==See also== {{commonscat}} *''The Holy Temple'' *Max Florence § Blackmailing of the LDS Church
==Notes== {{reflist}}
==External links== *''[https://archive.org/stream/houseoflordstudy00talm#page/n8/mode/1up The House of the Lord]'' on archive.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:House of the Lord, The}} Category:1912 non-fiction books Category:1912 in Christianity Category:Temples (LDS Church) Category:The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints texts Category:Works by James E. Talmage Category:LDS non-fiction Category:Works by apostles (LDS Church)