The printers manuscript is the earliest surviving copy of about 72% of the book of mormon text. The book of mormon played a major role in the missionary efforts of the early church. Scribe 1oliver cowdery scribe 2 unknown scribe 3 unknown reply to critics. Church history department releases book of mormon printer. In 1986, while preparing the text for first nephi of the study book of mormon project, zarahemla research foundation began a wordforword comparison of the original and printers manuscripts with the 1830,1837,1840,1874, 1892 and 1908 editions. All the text of the book of mormonas well as large, lined marginswill give you a large canvas to express your thoughts, document insights youve received, or create your own visual art illuminations, or calligraphy, enhancing your daily study and creating a record that will endure. The book of mormon is supposed to be a history of real people living in a real place. The crandall museum has a working copy of the printing press used to print the original 5,000 copies of the book of mormon, and it was on this that they tried to duplicate the original process. Photo courtesy of the church of jesus christ of latterday. This service gives a student piece of mind that the essay is of the highest quality and allows him the time to prepare the information he wants to be portrayed. Also, consider that the printing process in 1830 was much more manual and cumbersome than the ones we use today. The original press used by grandin to print the book of mormon, is currently. Royal skousen does a great job in giving line by line detail, carefully referencing the printers marks in the editing processes that. I buy, sell and appraise free of charge rare mormon books, documents, photographs and artifacts.
The grandin printing press that was used to produce the first 5,000 copies of the book of mormon in palmyra, new york, is on display. The wonderful crandall historical printing museum in provo, utah, undertook in january 20 to reenact the original printing of the book of mormon. You can zoom in and see the actual manuscript word for word. The original manuscript of the book of mormon and the.
Ricks, the journal of book of mormon studies is the leading venue for scholarly work on the book of mormon. Robin scott jensen relates the story of how the whitmer family preserved the printers manuscript of the book of mormon. A pdf copy of the wide margin edition of the book of mormon. 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. Book of mormon printing arrangements printing the book. For the first 150 years of mormonisms existence, everyone thought it was a story about a people who left the middle east and came to south or central america, and who fought wars clear up into new york state where. What may interest you is that there are twenty distinct editions of the book of mormon beginning with the first printing in 1830, and culminating with the current edition, first set and printed in 1981. Ldsbook of mormonprintable quotedigital filesscripture posterrelief societymormoninstant downloadfamily proclamationliving christ periwinkleinc 5 out of. I have been a resident of palmyra, new york, since about the year 1824, and during all that time have done some typesetting each year. Rather than go into full detail, ill list each of the. We set a full16 pages of the book and then printed all day and here is a video clip of our findings.
Grandin building and the original printing of the book of. As proselyting increased, another printing of the book of mormon was needed. A small group of believers supported joseph smith through the book of mormon translation process, but none of them had experience in publishing. Modern computers have given birth to a new science of analyzing word patterns in documents whose authorship is disputed. It is important to note that the changes in the book. The book of mormon is another testament of jesus christ. This claim, as well as all claims to historical authenticity of the book of mormon, are rejected by nonlatter day saint historians and scientists. Early on, joseph smith convinced 1 martin harris that together they would make money publishing the book of mormon. In the unfolding book of mormon text, joseph smith found answers to some of the questions that had brought him to the sacred grove as a 14yearold boy. Evidence from the book of mormon manuscript mormonthink.
On this board, ive put together an assortment of pictures that show the bindings, title pages, and text of the first edition book of mormon and other related books. He claims that many miracles were required but that they could have been done with so little fanfare that they have gone. Because of the buildings historical significance to. Book of mormon publication site palmyra 2020 all you. Thus, the text of all books of mormon dated from 1921 to 1980 is the same as 1920. Apr 26, 2020 my name is reid moon, owner of moons rare books in provo, utah. Sep 22, 2017 the grandin printing press that was used to produce the first 5,000 copies of the book of mormon in palmyra, new york, is on display. Printers manuscript of the book of mormon press conference rich kelsey. A printing history of the book of mormon mormon historic sites.
Transcribed only once, from ancient writings, this book is an. One of his scribes testified in court concerning the translation process. The church of jesus christ of latterday saints, headquartered in salt lake city, utah, recently acquired the printers manuscript of the book of mormon from. Nevertheless, word processing your essay allows you to use the spellchecker, thus gaining valuable brownie points. Original printers manuscript of the book of mormon sold. On the title page of the 1840 edition of the book of mormon pictured above is an important statement which reads, carefully revised by the translator. The massive amount of ink for the printing of the 5,000 copies was also miraculously provided. Learning as they went, joseph smith and his associates worked to secure a printers services, finance the printing process, and respond to local opposition to publish the sacred record. The book of mormon and the growth of printing in america. In summary, there are seven regular english versions of the book of mormon officially printed by the authority of the lds church in america 1830, 1837. Copy made from the original book of mormon manuscript by oliver cowdery, for use by the typesetter for the first printing of the book of mormon 1830. Book of mormon difficulties, contradictions and explanations. The book of mormon, journal editions can help with both your daily study and your journaling efforts. Feb 11, 20 the wonderful crandall historical printing museum in provo, utah, undertook in january 20 to reenact the original printing of the book of mormon.
Gilbert regarding printing book of mormon, 8 september 1892, palmyra, new york, typescript, byu. Examine the book of mormon as a historical printed artifact. There were 5,000 copies printed for the first edition of the book of mormon. Book of mormon printing history showcased in storied provo. Cases containing the moveable type used in the printing process. The original manuscript of the book of mormon and the printers manuscript of the book of mormon. By wordprint analysis, it is now possible with a high degree of certainty to tell which suspected authors. The printers of the book of mormon used a right angle imposition. Joseph smith during the translation process of the book of mormon. As these editions were printed in following years, the printing dates were updated without changing the text. Print the pdf, doublesided, on a laser printer, or take it to a copy and print shop and have them print it for you. Many of the largeprint runs of the book of mormon have. Lds church buys printers manuscript of book of mormon for.
The oilbased ink used in printing at the time made better imprints when the paper was slightly moistened, which added the timely step of drying before a sheet could be flipped over to print on the reverse side. Discusses the publication of the first edition of the book of mormon, including the printing process and local reaction to the book. 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. Grandin printed and sold the first copies of the book of mormon. Theres a lot of evidence the translated text of the book of mormon was controlled down to the very word, in fact, to the very letter at least for the book of mormon names. Read more about the miraculous printing process here. In addition to book of mormon designs, you can explore the marketplace for broadway, musical, and theatre designs sold by independent artists. The miraculous printing of the 1840 edition of the book of.
Printing paper used in the first editions of the book of mormon was a softer, machinedmade paper that did not need moistening. The replica press is found at the crandall printing museum in provo, utah. Gordon weights book, miracle on palmyras main street indeed raises several questions about the technical details of just how the book of mormon could have been printed in a mere seven months with the equipment of that day. This faithful reproduction of the earliest manuscript of the book of mormon perfectly preserves the original text, including the spellings, punctuation, and typography of the book as it was written and printed for the first time in 1830. Volumes 12 are offered for the first time as a three book set from byu studies while supplies last.
Brother weight, who had the expertise to say so, estimates a minimum. The initial book of mormon wordprint studies were carried out by larsen, rencher, and layton. According to most adherents of the latter day saint movement, the book of mormon is a 19thcentury translation of a record of ancient inhabitants of the american continent, which was written in a script which the book refers to as reformed egyptian. Embracing the origin, rise and progress of the sect. Excellent resource for a serious minded book of mormon scholar. The grandin printing press that was used to produce the first 5,000 copies of the book of mormon in palmyra, n. Nov 21, 2017 the book of mormon printers manuscript is now available to see online.
Below is the modern map of the area of smiths youth. The book of mormon printing miracle its about time. Book of mormon printers manuscript now online lds365. It becomes more personal and deep than any other scripture study method that i. John gilberts 1892 account of the 1830 printing of the book of.
The printers manuscript is the earliest surviving copy of about 72 percent of the book of mormon text, as only about 28 percent of the earlier dictation copy survived decades of storage in a. Buy book of mormon hardcover or softcover book of mormon. A new volume of the joseph smith papers project featuring the printers manuscript of the book of mormon was released tuesday by the church historians press, an imprint of the history. For example, joseph specified both the kind of type and the kind of paper for the book of mormon, but the printer had neither or access to same, but they were provided miraculously. Sep 28, 2017 the grandin printing press that was used to produce the first 5,000 copies of the book of mormon in palmyra, n.
Printing the book of mormon crandall historical printing museum. The book of mormon historic publication site is a historic site located in the village of palmyra, wayne county, new york, united states. With all the intervention by fallible mortals required to bring forth the printing of the book of mormon, it is surprising that more grammatical and spelling errors were not made. Restoring the original text of the book of mormon fairmormon. Jul 02, 2015 robin scott jensen relates the story of how the whitmer family preserved the printers manuscript of the book of mormon. The lds church confirms, while many printers were content to publish books and then share the proceeds of the expected sales with the author, this. The manpower, the paper, ink, ink balls and hours of work. The story of the book of mormon printers manuscript youtube. The book of mormon printers manuscript is now available to see online. Latterday saints have from their beginning believed that a series of miracles led to the coming forth of the book of mormon. Printing the book of mormon crandall historical printing.
This book presents the original transcription of joseph smiths dictated translation of the golden plates. Royal skousen collected and examined the existing fragments of the original manuscript of the book of mormon to produce a critical text. Beautiful working replica of the original eb grandin acorn printing press that was used to print the first book of mormon. Written by prophets to a people who lived in america long before white people ever came, some believe they were the beginnings of some native indian tribes. Volumes 12 are offered for the first time as a threebook set from byu studies while supplies last. The seven months it took to print the book of mormon is well documented. 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. Many people close to the process were moved by the book s message and eagerly waited for a renewing of old covenants and the restoration of christs church. History of the manuscripts of the book of mormon by shirley r. Joseph smith the prophet had translated the book of mormon from the golden plates and oliver cowdery and other scribes wrote his words, which constituted the original manuscript. But among the many recorded miracles, including an angel revealing where golden plates were buried and special interpreters being used so that they could be translated by the gift and power of god, to my knowledge the actual printing of the first edition of the book of. In 1986, while preparing the text for first nephi of the study book of mormon project, zarahemla research foundation began a wordforword comparison of the original and printers manuscripts with the. 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. Go behind the printing of the first edition of the book of mormon.
Sep 29, 2017 the printers manuscript is the earliest surviving copy of about 72 percent of the book of mormon text, as only about 28 percent of the earlier dictation copy survived decades of storage in a. Feb 16, 2017 beautiful working replica of the original eb grandin acorn printing press that was used to print the first book of mormon. Photocopy of the printers copy of the book of mormon. 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. The joseph smith papers website at shows a sidebyside comparison of the pages.
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