Dates, Places, File Numbers, and Publication Data

Letters and manuscripts are in chronological order, making it easier for the reader to follow the development of the narrative and the thinking of Ellen White over the years. Some documents, however, Ellen White left undated, incompletely dated, or, in a few cases, obviously misdated. In such cases dates have been assigned, based on evidence provided in the footnotes. Assigned dates appear in square brackets.1EGWLM 63.3

Despite efforts to be exact, some documents could be dated only approximately to the nearest month, year, or even range of years. Such documents appear in the collection at the end of the month, year, or last year in a range of years. Thus letters that can be dated only to “July 1850,” “1850,” or “1850-1852,” for example, would appear at the end of the July 1850, December 1850, and December 1852 sections, respectively.1EGWLM 63.4

In cases in which Ellen White has not recorded the address from which her letter was sent, the probable location has been supplied in square brackets. Addresses of diary entries have been dealt with in the same way. The abbreviation “n.p.” (“no place”) appears where the place of origin is unknown or uncertain. The names of states have been added in square brackets where only the names of towns or villages appear in the original text.1EGWLM 63.5

White Estate file number designations are given in parenthesis above the date and place (e.g., “Lt 4, 1849” or “Ms 2, 1885”), while information about the document's previous publication status is found immediately following the name of the addressee or title.1EGWLM 63.6