The first edition, printed in 1830, is most precious to members of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints because joseph smith, the faiths. Dec 07, 2017 when the first copies of the book of mormon came off the press in march 1830, they were not based, for the most part, directly on the original manuscript written down by oliver cowdery as joseph smith dictated the text. The first edition book of mormon is composed in a narrative, paragraph format, uninterrupted by verses and chapters, which many readers will find easier to digest. Charting the book of mormon is a collection of more than 175 visual aids that promote deeper understanding and appreciation of the book of mormon. The initial book of mormon wordprint studies were carried out by larsen, rencher, and layton. He was josephs most prolific scribe, one of the three witnesses, and oversaw the printing process, for which he recopied the entire book of mormon by hand. Published on feb 16, 2017 beautiful working replica of the original eb grandin acorn printing press that was used to print the first book of. I am grateful to have been asked to discuss the title page of the book of mormon. Why were textual changes made to the book of mormon over the years after it was first published. The book of mormon and the growth of printing in america.
Moons rare books first edition book of mormon for sale. After printing the 592page first edition of the book of mormon on sheets of paper, church members, typically women and children, folded the sheets into folios to be sewn, glued, and bound into a finished book. Besides joseph smith, few people were as involved in the bringing forth of the book of mormon as oliver cowdery. Book of mormon printers manuscript is now online church news. A printing history of the book of mormon 101 the year 2000 marked an important event in the publishing history of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. A pdf of the printer s manuscript of the book of mormon. Grandin building and the original printing of the book of mormon.
Understand the creation and publication of an important american religious text, the. Evidence from the original manuscript, in book of mormon authorship revisited, edited by reynolds, 6193. Printing of the first edition book of mormon duration. Grandin printed and sold the first copies of the book of.
These take the form of such things as double negatives, incorrect adverbs and adjectives, and incorrect tenses. Public press, one page book, giant book, large wall art, book of mormon, lds, whole book as poster, book print, reading art, word art, typography. To print the book, grandin used a smith improved printing press, which had first appeared on the market about 1821 and was the most uptodate press available to the small printer of the day. The following year the book of mormon was printed in four additional languages. The original 1830 edition, book of mormon had s of errors. Book of mormontextual changeswhy were these changes made. The printers manuscript is a handwritten copy of the original manuscript. The book of mormon and the growth of printing in america objectives. Joseph smith and martin harris visited several printers about the project. Woods reprints did not tell that the revelations and the book of mormon had been changed, the church leaders evidently felt that they were safe as long as members of the church did not. The deseret press, which is owned by the mormon church, did the printing, and the deseret book store, which is also owned by the church, sold them.
The grandin printing press was used to produce the first copies. First edition book of mormon history moons rare books. The original press used by grandin to print the book of mormon, is currently located in the church history museum in salt lake city, utah. Hyrum took up one of the papers and discovered that the man was printing the book of mormon by piecemeal. The book of mormon has been criticized and praised for nearly 200 years. Gordon is probably the only person on the planet that could have written with authenticity this booklet with subtitle, an oldtime printers perspective on printing the original copies of the book of mormon. Grandin building and the original printing of the book of. The original manuscript is the dictated manuscript the scribes wrote down as joseph smith translated the book of mormon. Errors in grammar there are literally thousands of grammatical errors in the original edition of the book of mormon errors that gradually have been changed in later editions. Dont struggle with small print books when all you need is a book with large print. This book presents the original transcription of joseph smiths dictated translation of the golden plates. Another testament of jesus christ official edition by smith, joseph and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at.
There was an original printing run of 5,000 of these, which, for. Book of mormon historic publication site wikipedia. Book of mormon by joseph smith, first edition abebooks. It is insightful to explore the circumstances and motivations of the smith family both before and after bringing forth the work. Explore the connections in this period between religion and print culture. Today, the building in which the book of mormon was first published and sold is known as the book of mormon historic publication site.
The seven months it took to print the book of mormon is well documented. For those interested in experiencing the original book of mormon, this high quality reprint will make a wonderful addition to your library. Their plan for a first printing of 5,000 copies of the book of mormon was. Should we suspect anything is unusual just by knowing that it took only seven months. The printing of the book of mormon would seem like a mundane process, undeserving of special attention. Grandin printed and sold the first copies of the book of mormon. The book of mormon is a sacred book of scripture in the church of jesus christ of latterday saints which church is frequently misnamed the mormon church. Designed for multiple use as study guides, handouts, and masters for creating projectable images, the charts convey a wealth of information that will enrich personal study and teaching. Better understand the expansive growth of printing in early nineteenthcentury america and how that affected society.
Thus, on both calendars it was on exactly the same day as the resurrection of jesus christ, hence a perfect day to represent the coming forth of the book of mormon from the earth. Oliver remained involved in the founding events of the church and became one of the first missionaries to take the book of. Okay, well, this is a book of mormon, or should i say it is the book of mormon. Book of mormon printing arrangements printing the book of. John gilberts 1892 account of the 1830 printing of the book. Jun 14, 2018 in 1851, twentyone years after its first printing, members of the church in denmark were the first to read the book of mormon in their native language. This is an exact facsimile reprint of the original, 1830 edition of the book of mormon, the authoritative scripture of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. Title page from an original first edition of the book of mormon printed in liverpool, england, in 1841. Early mormon books have appreciated at a far more rapid pace than comparable 19th century literature. A few years ago the mormon leaders allowed one of their members, wilford wood, to reproduce by the photooffset method the first edition of the book of mormon under the title of joseph smith begins his work, vol. Printing the book of mormon crandall historical printing museum.
Oliver cowdery produced a printers manuscript, a copy of the original for use in the. Miracle on palmyras main street an old time perspective on printing the original copies of the book of mormon on. Book of mormon publication site palmyra 2020 all you need. Book of mormon, 1830, page 0 the joseph smith papers. The manpower, the paper, ink, ink balls and hours of work. In every set comparing the book of mormon texts against these three writers, at least seven and often many more rejections were measured. The published text of the book of mormon has been corrected and edited through its various editions. Organized in 1830, the church had recently issued february 2000 the one hundred millionth copy of the book of mormon, the volume that has been central to.
Miracle on palmyras main street an old time perspective on. The book of mormon was originally printed in 1830 by e. Early on, joseph smith convinced 1 martin harris that together they would make money publishing the book of mormon. The book of mormon is a native american book, and it seems totally appropriate for its resurrection to be a redletter day on those two native american calendars. The first page of the printers manuscript of the book of mormon, provided by joseph smith to the printer, e. Browse our collection of utah art, historical documents, lds books, lds scripture, rare historical mormon items, and unique collectibles. To the inside front cover are affixed four clippings of descriptions of different versions of first edition copies of the book of mormon and of an 1854 edition of the doctrine and covenants, along with a clipping describing the origin of the text of the book of mormon and a bookplate of the shepard book company of salt lake city, utah. Printing a book as large and as expensive as the book of mormon would demand expertise and an investment in new printing type and supplies. Here at the crandall printing museum, we attempted to see what it would be like to print 5,000 copies of the original 1830 book of mormon. Local printers refused josephs proposed book, and not entirely out of religious misgiving. Pratt contracted with printer john tompkins of liverpool to print 5,000 copies, but tompkins ended up delivering only 4,050 copies. The original manuscript was used by smith to further correct errors printed in the 1830 and 1837 versions of the book of mormon for the 1840 printing of the book.
These results yield strong statistical evidence that the wordprints of joseph smith, oliver cowdery, and solomon spaulding are not measurable in the book of mormon. The incredible story of the first printing of the book of. They compared twentyfour book of mormon authors each having at least 1,000 words to each other, and concluded on the basis of three separate statistical tests that these authors were distinct from each other and oliver cowdery, joseph smith, jr. The printers manuscript was not used fully in the typesetting of the 1830 version of book of mormon. The few significant modifications were made by the prophet joseph smith to clarify the meaning of the text, not to change it. Latterday saints have from their beginning believed that a series of miracles led to the coming forth of the book of mormon. This process includes evidence from the two book of mormon manuscripts. Translating and printing the book of mormon the book of. The ten most expensive mormon books meridian magazine. Mar 01, 2017 the first editions of the book of mormon were prepared and bound using old traditional methods. From our modern day perspective, it seems that the printing of the book of mormon would be an obvious success, but the true history varies greatly from the popular lds narrative. Provo museum preserves printing history of the book of mormon.
Lds church buys printers manuscript of book of mormon for record. The original 1830 edition, book of mormon had s of. The book of mormon is an account of the former inhabitants of this continent that contains the fulness of the everlasting gospel. Grandins print shop to print the book was signed on tue 25 aug 1829, and the completed book was on sale by fri 26 march 1830. The first book of mormon was published in 1830, where 5,000 copies were printed by e. The first five editions of the book of mormon 1830, 1837, 1840, 1841. The most coveted mormon book is actually the first edition of the book of commandments, smith.
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