在这个多变无常的世代，一本书能历经一个世纪而依然生机盎然，即需求量不断增加，与论述当前问题的书籍同列，实属罕见。这正是怀爱伦的《早期著作》令人羡慕的记录。多年以来，该书的几个版本已多次印刷。本书是第五个美国的版本。
这本受人欢迎的书籍正如其名，是三册怀爱伦最早著作的合编：首印于1851年的《怀爱伦基督徒经历与目睹》;发表于1854年的《经历与目睹》续编;和出版于1858年的《属灵的恩赐》卷一。
《早期著作》长期广受喜爱，可能是因为人们一直想要获得并研究早年藉着预言的恩赐传给教会的知识和鼓励的信息。
该书于1882年第二次印刷，分成两本小册子：《经历与目睹》及《补编》，和《属灵的恩赐》。关于当时对原著第一册所作的补充以及编辑上的改动，出版者在序言中说：
“脚注提供了日期和解释，附录包括了两个非常有趣的梦，是原著有提到但未详述的。这将增加本版的价值。除此之外，本版中没有对原著作任何改动，只是偶尔用了一个新词，或在句子结构上作一点改动，以更好地表达意思，但对原著未作任何省略。原著的意思和观点也未作任何改动，就连措词的改动也是当着作者的面，是经她完全同意的。”
这两本小册曾在1882年合编出版，定名为《早期著作》。1906年重排为美国第三版，曾广为流传，满足了不断增长的需求。该版的页码成了所有参考作品和后来出版的怀著索引的标准页码。
1945年出了《早期著作》的第四版。经过四十年的印刷和重印之后，需要更换新的印刷版面。第五版在重排时有了页码目录，使用了现代的拼法和标点符号的通用形式，还增加了一个新的序言，简要回顾了本书的历史。
第五版的特点是增加了一个历史背景说明，让读者了解该书各部分的时间和背景，并用一些附注说明现在人们不甚明了的当时写作的表达方式和情况。对于怀著原文并无改动，对此版之前的第四版页码也未作改动，与怀著的总索引保持一致。
在《经历与目睹》中，介绍了怀夫人最初的传略，简要追溯了她在1840至1844年复临运动时的经历。后来她见了许多早期的异象，其中有许多曾以单张或期刊文章首次印刷出版。
《补编》解释了早期作品中被人误解或误传的某些语言，进而对教会进行勉励。它比定名为《教会证言》的第一份小册子早一年出版。
《属灵的恩赐》卷一是第一本叙述基督和祂的天使与撒但和他的使者之间长期斗争的著作，以其生动的描述和简洁动人的笔触而为人所喜爱，因为它只记录了要点。在以后的年岁中，关于这场斗争的简要记述被扩充为四卷《预言之灵》，陆续出版于1870年至1884年。在广为流传之后，这四卷书被众所周知且广为阅读的历代之争丛书取代，照着曾赐给怀夫人的许多启示，以更为详细地形式予以记述。虽然更为全面的书籍——《先祖与先知》，《先知与君王》，《历代愿望》，《使徒行述》和《善恶之争》——更充分介绍了善恶大斗争，但本书所提供的最初著述，以其简洁的形式，连同《经历和目睹》，始终处于很大的需求之中。
怀爱伦著托管委员会
1963年3月于美国首都华盛顿
Rare indeed it is in these changing times that a book lives on through a century in ever-increasing demand and takes its place in current reading by the side of books dealing with present issues. Yet such is the enviable record of Early Writings of Ellen G. White. Through the years there have been many printings of the several editions. It now appears in a fifth American edition.{EW iii.1}[1]
This popular little volume is rightly named, being a republication of the first three Ellen G. White books—Christian Experience and Views of Mrs. E. G. White, First printed in 1851;A Supplement to Experience and Views, Issued in 1854; and Spiritual Gifts, Volume I, which appeared in 1858.{EW iii.2}[2]
The wide and lasting popularity of Early Writings?may be attributed to the unwaning desire to possess and study the messages of information and encouragement which came early to the Church through the prophetic gift.{EW iii.3}[3]
The second printing of this matter was made in 1882 in two small volumes—Experience and Views?and the Supplement?comprising the first, and Spiritual Gifts?the second. As to certain additions to the first of these original works and some slight editorial changes made at that time, the publisher’s preface states:{EW iii.4}[4]
“Footnotes giving dates and explanations, and an appendix giving two very interesting dreams, which were mentioned but not related in the original work, will add to the value of this edition. Aside from these, no changes from the original work have been made in the present edition, except the occasional employment of a new word, or a change in the construction of a sentence, to better express the idea, and no portion of the work has been omitted. No shadow of change has been made in any idea or sentiment of the original work, and the verbal changes have been made under the author’s own eye, and with her full approval.”{EW iii.5}[5]
The two companion books were also reissued as a single volume in 1882 under the title?Early Writings. In 1906 the type was reset to make the third American edition, which has had wide distribution, meeting the ever-increasing demand. The paging of this edition became the standard for all reference work and the subsequently published indexes to the writings of Mrs. White.{EW iv.1}[6]
The fourth edition of Early Writings?was published in 1945. Forty years of printing and reprinting made necessary new printing plates. As the type was reset the content was held page for page with the edition it succeeded. Modern spelling and current forms of punctuation were employed and a new preface reviewed briefly the history of the book.{EW iv.2}[7]
This fifth edition is characterized by a historical prologue, added to furnish the reader with a knowledge of the times and circumstances of the various portions of the book and by several appendix notes provided to explain expressions and situations not so well understood now as at the time of writing. There has been no change of the E. G. White text nor change in the paging from the fourth edition which this succeeds, consequently it harmonizes with theComprehensive Index to the Writings of Ellen G. White.{EW iv.3}[8]
In?Experience and Views?is presented Mrs. White’s first biographical sketch, briefly tracing her experience through the Advent movement of 1840-44. Then follow a number of the earlier visions, many of which had first appeared in print in broadside or periodical article form.{EW iv.4}[9]
The Supplement?Explains certain expressions of the earlier work which had been misunderstood or misconstrued, and gives additional counsel to the Church. Its publication preceded by one year the first pamphlet bearing the title of Testimony for the Church.{EW v.1}[10]
Spiritual Gifts, Volume I, being the first published account of the long-extended conflict between Christ and His angels and Satan and his angels, is cherished for its vivid descriptions and its compactness, touching as it does only the more salient points. In succeeding years this brief story of the conflict was greatly amplified in the four volumes of The Spirit of Prophecy, Published 1870-84. After wide distribution, this four-book set was replaced by the well-known and widely read Conflict of the Ages series, presenting the account in still more detailed form, as it had been presented to Mrs. White in many revelations. Even though the fuller volumes—Patriarchs and Prophets, Prophets and Kings, The Desire of Ages, The Acts of the Apostles, and The Great Controversy—Present the conflict story in its more complete form, the initial writing of the account as here presented in its brief, clear-cut, simple form, will, with?Experience and Views, always be in large demand.{EW v.2}[11]
The Trustees of the Ellen G. White Publications.---Washington, D.C.March, 1963[12]
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