During the time he was working on the book, Talmage was ordained as a church apostle in December 1911. The book was completed on September 30, 1912. The First Presidency agreed with Talmage's proposal and on September 22 assigned Talmage to produce such a book. Talmage also proposed that the book could contain an explanation of the purpose and importance of temples to Latter-day Saints. 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. Smith was outraged and refused to deal with the photographers.

If the church refused to pay, the photographers threatened to publicly display the photographs. The church was offered the photographs for $100,000. The photographers had written to the church's First Presidency in a blackmail attempt.

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. Published by the LDS Church, it was the first book to contain photographs of the interiors of Mormon temples. Talmage that discusses the doctrine and purpose of the temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The House of the Lord: A Study of Holy Sanctuaries, Ancient and Modern is a 1912 book by James E.

Books by james e talmage