There are nine original accounts of the First Vision. Joseph Smith wrote or dictated four. Five were written by people who heard Joseph share his experience, then wrote down what they heard. This post contains a brief description of each account and links to where these accounts can be read.
Firsthand Accounts
1832 Account
“The earliest known account of the First Vision, the only account written in Joseph Smith’s own hand, is found in a short, unpublished autobiography Joseph Smith produced in the second half of 1832.”1
Read the transcript of the 1832 Account in which grammar, punctuation, and capitalization have been regularized: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/first-vision-accounts/1832-account?lang=eng.
Read the original transcript: https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-circa-summer-1832/1?p=1
1835 Account
In the fall of 1835, Joseph Smith recounted his First Vision to Robert Matthews, a visitor to Kirtland, Ohio, and the retelling was recorded in Joseph’s journal by his scribe Warren Parrish.2
Read the transcript of the 1835 Account in which grammar, punctuation, and capitalization have been regularized: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/first-vision-accounts/1835-account?lang=eng
Read the original transcript: https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-1835-1836/24?p=24
1838 Account
“The narration of the First Vision best known to Latter-day Saints today is the 1838 account. First published in 1842 in the Times and Seasons, the Church’s newspaper in Nauvoo, Illinois, the account was part of a longer history dictated by Joseph Smith between periods of intense opposition.”3 This is the version found in the Pearl of Great Price, known as Joseph Smith History.
Read the transcript of the 1838 Account: Joseph Smith History 1:5-20
Read the original: https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-circa-june-1839-circa-1841-draft-2/2?p=2
1842 Account
“Written in response to Chicago Democrat editor John Wentworth’s request for information about the Latter-day Saints, this account was printed in the Times and Seasons in 1842. (The “Wentworth letter,” as it is commonly known, is also the source for the Articles of Faith.)”4
Read the transcript of the 1842 Account: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/first-vision-accounts/1842-account?lang=eng
Read the original: https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/church-history-1-march-1842/1?p=1
Contemporary Accounts
Orson Pratt
“Orson Pratt of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles authored the earliest published account of Joseph’s First Vision of Deity in this pamphlet in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1840. Pratt had been called to the Quorum in 1835 at age 23. He participated with Joseph in meetings of Church leadership, spent time in the company of the Prophet, and attended the public speeches Joseph delivered in Pennsylvania and New Jersey in December 1839.”5
Read Orson Pratt’s pamphlet: https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/appendix-orson-pratt-an-interesting-account-of-several-remarkable-visions-1840/3
Orson Hyde
“Orson Hyde of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles published this account of Joseph Smith’s early visions in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1842. He stopped in Germany on his way back to the United States after preaching to Jews throughout Europe and dedicating the Holy Land for the gathering of the remnants of the scattered tribe of Judah. Hyde composed the text in English, relying heavily on Pratt’s Interesting Account, and translated it into German for publication under the title Ein Ruf aus der Wüste, meaning ‘a cry out of the wilderness.'”5
Read Orson Hyde’s publication: https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/orson-hyde-ein-ruf-aus-der-wste-a-cry-out-of-the-wilderness-1842-extract-english-translation/1
Levi Richards
Levi Richards attended a public church meeting on June 11, 1843, at which Joseph Smith spoke of the First Vision. Levi Richards included an account of it in his diary.5
Read Levi Richard’s journal entry: https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/levi-richards-journal-11-june-1843-extract/1
David Nye White
“In August 1843, David Nye White, editor of the Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette, interviewed Joseph Smith in his home as part of a two-day stop in Nauvoo, Illinois. His news article included an account of Joseph Smith’s First Vision.”5
Read the news article: https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/interview-29-august-1843-extract/1
Alexander Neibaur
“On 24 May 1844, German immigrant and church member Alexander Neibaur visited Joseph Smith in his home and heard him relate the circumstances of his earliest visionary experience.”5
Read Alexander Neibaur’s journal entry: https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/alexander-neibaur-journal-24-may-1844-extract/1
Other Resources
The Joseph Smith Papers website, and the Gospel Topics Essay “First Vision Accounts,” both contain links to all the accounts. The podcast on the Joseph Smith Papers website contains excellent information on the First Vision and the various accounts.
The Joseph Smith Papers
“Accounts of Joseph Smith’s First Vision,” https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/site/accounts-of-the-first-vision.
Gospel Topics Essays
“First Vision Accounts,” https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/first-vision-accounts?lang=eng.
The First Vision: A Joseph Smith Papers Podcast
https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/articles/the-first-vision-a-joseph-smith-papers-podcast.
- Episode 1: “An Unusual Excitement”
- Episode 2: “What Is to Be Done?”
- Episode 3: “I Retired to the Woods”
- Episode 4: “A Pillar of Light”
- Episode 5: “It Caused Me Serious Reflection”
- Episode 6: “I Had Seen a Vision”
References
- Gospel Topics Essays, “First Vision Accounts,” https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/first-vision-accounts?lang=eng&id=p5#p5
- Gospel Topics Essays, “First Vision Accounts,” https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/first-vision-accounts?lang=eng&id=p6#p6
- Gospel Topics Essays, “First Vision Accounts,” https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/first-vision-accounts?lang=eng&id=p7#p7
- Gospel Topics Essays, “First Vision Accounts,” https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/first-vision-accounts?lang=eng&id=p8#p8
- Other Contemporary Accounts, https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/content/restoration/contemporary-accounts?lang=eng