Printer’s Manuscript of the Book of Mormon, circa August 1829–circa January 1830

Home >
The Papers >

Printer’s Manuscript of the Book of Mormon, circa August 1829–circa January 1830
Title Page Page i Preface Page iii First Nephi, Chapter 1 [1 Nephi 1–5] Page 1 First Nephi, Chapter 2 [1 Nephi 6–9] Page 9 First Nephi, Chapter 3 [1 Nephi 10–14] Page 14 First Nephi, Chapter 4 [1 Nephi 15] Page 25 First Nephi, Chapter 5 [1 Nephi 16–19:21] Page 28 First Nephi, Chapter 6 [1 Nephi 19:22–21:26] Page 40 First Nephi, Chapter 7 [1 Nephi 22] Page 43 Second Nephi, Chapter 1 [2 Nephi 1–2] Page 46 Second Nephi, Chapter 2 [2 Nephi 3] Page 52 Second Nephi, Chapter 3 [2 Nephi 4] Page 54 Second Nephi, Chapter 4 [2 Nephi 5] Page 56 Second Nephi, Chapter 5 [2 Nephi 6–8] Page 58 Second Nephi, Chapter 6 [2 Nephi 9] Page 62 Second Nephi, Chapter 7 [2 Nephi 10] Page 66 Second Nephi, Chapter 8 [2 Nephi 11–15] Page 67 Second Nephi, Chapter 9 [2 Nephi 16–22] Page 72 Second Nephi, Chapter 10 [2 Nephi 23–24] Page 78 Second Nephi, Chapter 11 [2 Nephi 25–27] Page 80 Second Nephi, Chapter 12 [2 Nephi 28–30] Page 87 Second Nephi, Chapter 13 [2 Nephi 31] Page 92 Second Nephi, Chapter 14 [2 Nephi 32] Page 93 Second Nephi, Chapter 15 [2 Nephi 33] Page 94 Jacob, Chapter 1 [Jacob 1] Page 95 Jacob, Chapter 2 [Jacob 2–3] Page 96 Jacob, Chapter 3 [Jacob 4–5] Page 99 Jacob, Chapter 4 [Jacob 6] Page 107 Jacob, Chapter 5 [Jacob 7] Page 108 Enos, Chapter 1 [Enos 1] Page 110 Jarom, Chapter 1 [Jarom 1] Page 112 Omni, Chapter 1 [Omni 1] Page 113 Words of Mormon, Chapter 1 [Words of Mormon 1] Page 115 Mosiah, Chapter 1 [Mosiah 1–3] Page 117 Mosiah, Chapter 2 [Mosiah 4] Page 123 Mosiah, Chapter 3 [Mosiah 5] Page 126 Mosiah, Chapter 4 [Mosiah 6] Page 127 Mosiah, Chapter 5 [Mosiah 7–8] Page 128 Mosiah, Chapter 6 [Mosiah 9–10] Page 132 Mosiah, Chapter 7 [Mosiah 11–13:24] Page 135 Mosiah, Chapter 8 [Mosiah 13:25–16:15] Page 140 Mosiah, Chapter 9 [Mosiah 17–21] Page 143 Mosiah, Chapter 10 [Mosiah 22] Page 152 Mosiah, Chapter 11 [Mosiah 23–27] Page 153 Mosiah, Chapter 12 [Mosiah 28:1–19] Page 163 Mosiah, Chapter 13 [Mosiah 28:20–29:47] Page 165 Alma, Chapter 1 [Alma 1–3] Page 169 Alma, Chapter 2 [Alma 4] Page 177 Alma, Chapter 3 [Alma 5] Page 179 Alma, Chapter 4 [Alma 6] Page 184 Alma, Chapter 5 [Alma 7] Page 185 Alma, Chapter 6 [Alma 8] Page 187 Alma, Chapter 7 [Alma 9] Page 190 Alma, Chapter 8 [Alma 10–11] Page 192 Alma, Chapter 9 [Alma 12–13:9] Page 197 Alma, Chapter 10 [Alma 13:10–15:19] Page 201 Alma, Chapter 11 [Alma 16] Page 208 Alma, Chapter 12 [Alma 17–20] Page 210 Alma, Chapter 13 [Alma 21–22] Page 224 Alma, Chapter 14 [Alma 23–26] Page 230 Alma, Chapter 15 [Alma 27–29] Page 240 Alma, Chapter 16 [Alma 30–35] Page 244 Alma, Chapter 17 [Alma 36–37] Page 261 Alma, Chapter 18 [Alma 38] Page 266 Alma, Chapter 19 [Alma 39–42] Page 267 Alma, Chapter 20 [Alma 43–44] Page 274 Alma, Chapter 21 [Alma 45–49] Page 280 Alma, Chapter 22 [Alma 50] Page 294 Alma, Chapter 23 [Alma 51] Page 297 Alma, Chapter 24 [Alma 52–53] Page 300 Alma, Chapter 25 [Alma 54–55] Page 305 Alma, Chapter 26 [Alma 56–58] Page 309 Alma, Chapter 27 [Alma 59–60] Page 319 Alma, Chapter 28 [Alma 61] Page 323 Alma, Chapter 29 [Alma 62] Page 325 Alma, Chapter 30 [Alma 63] Page 329 Helaman, Chapter 1 [Helaman 1–2] Page 330 Helaman, Chapter 2 [Helaman 3–6] Page 334 Helaman, Chapter 3 [Helaman 7–10] Page 344 Helaman, Chapter 4 [Helaman 11–12] Page 352 Helaman, Chapter 5 [Helaman 13–16] Page 355 Third Nephi, Chapter 1 [3 Nephi 1–2] Page 363 Third Nephi, Chapter 2 [3 Nephi 3–5] Page 366 Third Nephi, Chapter 3 [3 Nephi 6–7] Page 372 Third Nephi, Chapter 4 [3 Nephi 8–10] Page 376 Third Nephi, Chapter 5 [3 Nephi 11–13:24] Page 380 Third Nephi, Chapter 6 [3 Nephi 13:25–14:27] Page 385 Third Nephi, Chapter 7 [3 Nephi 15–16] Page 387 Third Nephi, Chapter 8 [3 Nephi 17–18] Page 389 Third Nephi, Chapter 9 [3 Nephi 19–21:21] Page 393 Third Nephi, Chapter 10 [3 Nephi 21:22–23:13] Page 400 Third Nephi, Chapter 11 [3 Nephi 23:14–26:5] Page 402 Third Nephi, Chapter 12 [3 Nephi 26:6–27:22] Page 404 Third Nephi, Chapter 13 [3 Nephi 27:23–29:9] Page 406 Third Nephi, Chapter 14 [3 Nephi 30] Page 410 Fourth Nephi, Chapter 1 [4 Nephi 1] Page 410 Mormon, Chapter 1 [Mormon 1–3] Page 413 Mormon, Chapter 2 [Mormon 4–5] Page 418 Mormon, Chapter 3 [Mormon 6–7] Page 421 Mormon, Chapter 4 [Mormon 8–9] Page 423 Ether, Chapter 1 [Ether 1–4] Page 429 Ether, Chapter 2 [Ether 5] Page 435 Ether, Chapter 3 [Ether 6–8] Page 436 Ether, Chapter 4 [Ether 9–11] Page 440 Ether, Chapter 5 [Ether 12] Page 446 Ether, Chapter 6 [Ether 13–15] Page 448 Moroni, Chapter 1 [Moroni 1] Page 454 Moroni, Chapter 2 [Moroni 2] Page 454 Moroni, Chapter 3 [Moroni 3] Page 454 Moroni, Chapter 4 [Moroni 4] Page 454 Moroni, Chapter 5 [Moroni 5] Page 454 Moroni, Chapter 6 [Moroni 6] Page 455 Moroni, Chapter 7 [Moroni 7] Page 455 Moroni, Chapter 8 [Moroni 8] Page 458 Moroni, Chapter 9 [Moroni 9] Page 460 Moroni, Chapter 10 [Moroni 10] Page 461 The Testimony of Three Witnesses Page 463 The Testimony of Eight Witnesses Page 464
Source Note

“The Book of Mormon An account written by the hand of Mormon upon plates taken from the plates of Nephi wherefore it is an abridgment of the record of the People of Nephi & also of the Lamanites written to the Lamanites which are a remnant of the house of Israel & also to Jew & Gentile written by way of commandment & also by the spirit of Prophesy & of revelation written & sealed up & hid up unto the Lord that they might not be destroid to come forth by the gift & power of God unto the interpretation thereof sealed by the hand of Moroni & hid up unto the Lord to come forth in due time by the way of Gentile the interpretation thereof by the gift of God an abridgment taken from the Book of Ether also which is a record of the People of Jared which were scattered at the time the Lord confounded the language of the People when they were building a tower to get to heaven which is to shew unto the remnant of the house of Israel how great things the Lord hath done for their fathers & that they may know the covenants of the Lord that they are not cast off forever & also to the convinceing of the Jew & Gentile that Jesus is the Christ the Eternal God manifesting himself unto all Nations & now if there be fault it be the mistake of men wherefore condemn not the things of God that ye may be found spotless at the Judgment seat of Christ,” Printer’s Manuscript of the Book of Mormon, [ca. Aug. 1829–ca. Jan. 1830]; handwriting of
Oliver Cowdery
3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...
View Full Bio
, an unknown scribe, and
Hyrum Smith
9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; back to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co...
View Full Bio
; 466 pages (two leaves, likely blank, missing); CHL. Includes emendations.

Scribes for the printer’s manuscript of the Book of Mormon typically folded six ruled sheets in half, forming a twelve-leaf gathering of twenty-four pages. Eight different paper types of slightly different sizes were used during the process of copying from the original manuscript. The individual sheets range in size from 12⅜ to 13 inches high and from 15⅛ to 16¼ inches wide (32–33 × 38–41 cm); with the sheets folded, the pages measure on average 12¾ × 7⅞ inches (32 × 20 cm).
1
Specific measurements of each paper type used and a more detailed physical description of the manuscript can be found in Skousen, Printer’s Manuscript, 30–36.
Comprehensive Works Cited
Skousen, Royal, ed. The Printer’s Manuscript of the Book of Mormon: Typographical Facsimile of the Entire Text in Two Parts. Part 1, Copyright, 1830 Preface, 1 Nephi 1:0–Alma 17:26. Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, Brigham Young University, 2001.
A total of twenty-one gatherings were created, most of which consisted of twelve leaves (twenty-four pages).
2
The outliers are the eighth, seventeenth, nineteenth, and twenty-first gatherings, which are composed of five, three, three, and four sheets, respectively. The gatherings are folded in half, forming twice as many leaves and four times as many pages as there are sheets. The last gathering’s final two leaves (presumably blank) are no longer extant and were probably discarded during or shortly after the printing process.
In addition to the twenty-one gatherings, the printer’s manuscript includes two loose leaves of introductory material. The leaf bearing the preface was cut along the bottom and measures 8½–8⅝ × 8¹/₁₆ inches (22 × 21 cm); the leaf containing the copyright measures 12½ × 8⅛ inches (32 × 21 cm). Some of the pages were machine-ruled before purchase, while others were hand-ruled after they were folded; the majority of the pages bear thirty-seven lines. After the sheets were written upon, each gathering was sewn together with string or yarn. This was done by making four holes along the gutter of the inside bifolium of each gathering and stitching yarn or string through these holes. The string and yarn have since been removed. Each page was paginated except for the two introductory pages and the first leaf.
Cowdery
View Full Bio
numbered his pages on the upper right corner of the recto pages and the upper left corner of the verso pages.
Hyrum Smith
View Full Bio
and the unknown scribe (hereafter referred to as scribe 2) paginated in the upper left corners for both recto and verso pages.
3
The only exception to this pattern was when Oliver Cowdery and scribe 2 both wrote on manuscript page 157. Cowdery inscribed the page, and when he was finished, scribe 2 placed the page number at the upper right corner, likely because there was more space for the number there than in the upper left corner. (Book of Mormon, Printer’s Manuscript, ca. Aug. 1829–ca. Jan. 1830, p. 157.)
The page numbers were generally inscribed before the text on the page was written, though Cowdery sometimes came back and added the page number after the text was copied. Cowdery inscribed signature marks at the bottom of each first recto page in gatherings two through eighteen, likely to keep the gatherings in order as consecutive sections of the manuscript were taken to the print shop.
4
The first gathering may also have been marked with a signature mark, but the bottom portion of the page is missing from the first leaf, making it impossible to ascertain the existence of a signature mark.
Although it is unclear when Cowdery inscribed signature marks on the several signatures, it appears that he inscribed these textual markers in a number of different sittings. A clear break in the style of signature marks occurs between the fourteenth and the sixteenth gatherings, with the fifteenth serving as a bridge between the two styles. This shift in style probably corresponded to the use of a different copytext. When the compositors set type for the first edition of the Book of Mormon, they used the printer’s manuscript as their source text up through the fifteenth gathering, then the original manuscript until the twentieth gathering, and then the printer’s manuscript until the end.

Cowdery
View Full Bio
and two associates created the printer’s manuscript for the use of the compositors, or typesetters, in the print shop in
Palmyra
Known as Swift’s Landing and Tolland before being renamed Palmyra, 1796. Incorporated, Mar. 1827, two years after completion of adjacent Erie Canal. Population in 1820 about 3,700. Joseph Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith family lived in village briefly, beginning ...
More Info
, New York, who were preparing the Book of Mormon for publication. The manuscript was marked up to facilitate typesetting. The compositor, John H. Gilbert, wrote in pencil (and occasionally in ink) on some pages of the manuscript, providing punctuation, capitalization, pilcrows, and other clarifying marks.
5
Though it is possible that another individual in the Palmyra print shop marked up portions of the manuscript, the evenness of the ink and consistency of the shape of punctuation and other marks suggest that a single individual, most likely John H. Gilbert, marked up the manuscript in preparation for publication. (See “Mormon Leaders at Their Mecca,” New York Herald, 25 June 1893, 12; see also Skousen, “John Gilbert’s 1892 Account,” 58–72.)
New York Herald. New York City. 1835–1924.
Skousen, Royal. “Worthy of Another Look: John Gilbert’s 1892 Account of the 1830 Printing of the Book of Mormon.” Journal of the Book of Mormon an Other Restoration Scripture 21, no. 2 (2012): 58–72.
On other pages, he apparently punctuated as he set the type, leaving the pages unmarked. Some marked-up pages contain corrections over the entire page, while others contain marks on only part of the page. In all, roughly 39 percent of the pages contain compositors’ marks. Sometimes compositors also cut the sheets, which allowed them to work from a single page or a half page, rather than a twelve-leaf gathering. When a leaf was cut horizontally, the two pages were attached to each other with a pin.
6
Evidence of these pins comes from the holes they created and the rust marks left by the heads of the pins; the pins themselves are not extant.
Samuel A. Burgess, historian for the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS), saw the manuscript in the early twentieth century and recalled that “over half” of the sheets “had never had backs cut but was in folio; one sheet inside another and written as a book.”
7
Burgess made this observation in a letter he wrote to Israel A. Smith after 1923. A Missouri newspaper observed that the manuscript was “yellow with age, of large, old fashioned, unruled foolscap paper, closely written upon both sides with ink and fastened together in sections with yarn strings.” (Skousen, Printer’s Manuscript, 15; “Mormonism,” Kansas City (MO) Daily Journal, 5 June 1881, [1].)
Kansas City Daily Journal. Kansas City, MO. 1878–1891.

Despite the damage that could have been done in this rough printing environment, the manuscript survived in relatively good condition. George Q. Cannon, who had extensive experience as a printer and saw the manuscript in 1884, while it was in the possession of
David Whitmer
7 Jan. 1805–25 Jan. 1888. Farmer, livery keeper. Born near Harrisburg, Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Raised Presbyterian. Moved to Ontario Co., New York, shortly after birth. Attended German Reformed Church. Arranged...
View Full Bio
, commented: “I noticed printers’ marks through the manuscript, still it was very clean for copy that printers had handled.” Whitmer told Cannon that the excellent preservation of the manuscript was due to
Cowdery
View Full Bio
’s careful stewardship of the document during the printing process.
8
Cannon, Journal, 27 Feb. 1884.
Cannon, George Q. Journals, 1855–1864, 1872–1901. CHL. CR 850 1.
Cannon also commented on the cut pages. The manuscript, he said, “was fastened together, not as a whole, but a few folios, not more than a dozen, with woollen yarn, which he [David Whitmer] said was his mothers.”
9
Cannon, Journal, 27 Feb. 1884. E. Hobson Tordoff, who conserved the manuscript in the early twentieth century, documented the state of the gatherings of the manuscript and showed that as early as the twentieth century, a little less than half of the manuscript pages were still intact and folded within gatherings. The pages that were bound with yarn were probably the four gatherings that never went to the print shop. The stain from the yarn can still be seen in those four gatherings. (E. Hobson Tordoff, Note, 20 Oct. 1922, Archaeology: Book of Mormon Manuscript Correspondence and Clippings, 1899–1949, CCLA.)
Archaeology: Book of Mormon Manuscript Correspondence and Clippings, 1899–1949. CCLA.

After work on the 1830 edition was completed, the printer’s manuscript likely remained in the possession of JS and his associates. In 1837, a new edition of the Book of Mormon was prepared, and the text was “carefully re-examined and compared with the original manuscripts, by elder Joseph Smith, Jr. the translator of the book of Mormon, assisted by the present printer, brother
O. Cowdery
View Full Bio
.”
10
“Preface,” Book of Mormon, 1837 ed., v.
Textual evidence, however, indicates that the two editors used only the printer’s manuscript and the first published edition—not the original manuscript—to prepare the text for the second edition. In addition to 1830 compositors’ marks, therefore, the manuscript contains emendations made by JS in preparation for the publication of the 1837 edition. Cowdery retained possession of the manuscript after the 1837 publication. Before Cowdery died in 1850, he passed the manuscript to his fellow Book of Mormon witness and brother-in-law
David Whitmer
View Full Bio
and charged him to preserve it.
11
“Mormonism,” Kansas City (MO) Daily Journal, 5 June 1881, [1].
Many people who visited David Whitmer documented his careful custodianship of the manuscript.
12
See Lyndon W. Cook, ed., David Whitmer Interviews: A Restoration Witness (Orem, UT: Grandin Book, 1991), for a book-length compilation of Whitmer’s reminiscences, experiences, and custodianship of the manuscripts in his possession as reported by visitors and interviewers. Whitmer felt it his sacred duty to be custodian of the text and often welcomed visitors who wished to see it or interview him about it. He told Orson Pratt and Joseph F. Smith, “Oliver [Cowdery] charged me to keep it [the manuscript], and Joseph [Smith] said my Fathers house should ‘keep the Records’ &c. I consider these things sacred and would not part with, nor barter them for money.” (Joseph F. Smith, New York City, NY, to John Taylor et al., [Salt Lake City, Utah Territory], 17 Sept. 1878, draft, Joseph F. Smith, Papers, CHL.)
Smith, Joseph F. Papers, 1854–1918. CHL. MS 1325.
Whitmer, however, misunderstood the origin of the document in his possession. He mistakenly told visitors that it was the original manuscript, though he was correct in saying that it was used by the printer for typesetting.
13
Joseph F. Smith and Orson Pratt pointed out to Whitmer in 1878 that the signatures on the witness pages were copied and not original signatures, whereupon Smith suggested “that perhaps there were two copies of the manuscript, But Mr. Whitmer replied that according to the best of his Knowledge there never was but the one copy.” Following an inspection of the manuscript in 1884, James H. Hart reported a conversation with Whitmer, wherein Hart stated “that it looked very much as though it was the original copy,” going on to explain that “it would in fact take considerable more evidence than I had seen to convince me that it was not the original and only written copy.” Whitmer responded in the affirmative, “I know, positively, that it is so.” (J. F. Smith to J. Taylor et al., 17 Sept. 1878; James H. Hart, “About the Book of Mormon,” Deseret Evening News [Salt Lake City], 25 Mar. 1884, [2].)
Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.
Late in Whitmer’s life, a tornado ripped through
Richmond
Area settled, ca. 1814. Officially platted as Ray Co. seat, 1827. Population in 1840 about 500. Seat of Fifth Judicial Circuit Court of Missouri; also location of courthouse and jails. JS and about sixty other Latter-day Saint men were incarcerated here while...
More Info
, Missouri, destroying most of his house; though the roof was torn off the room where the manuscript was kept, the tornado left the manuscript unscathed, leading many believers in the book to the conclusion that the manuscript had been divinely protected.
14
“Mormonism,” Kansas City (MO) Daily Journal, 5 June 1881, [1]; Cannon, Journal, 27 Feb. 1884. One story was told years later of several neighbors of Whitmer who were attempting to steal the manuscript but were frightened away by rattlesnakes. (Israel A. Smith, Letter, [Independence, MO], Archaeology: Book of Mormon Manuscript Correspondence and Clippings, 1899–1949, CCLA.)

Upon
Whitmer
View Full Bio
’s death in 1888, the manuscript passed to his son, David J. Whitmer. After David J. Whitmer’s early, accidental death in June 1895,
15
“David J. Whitmer Dead,” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City), 29 June 1895, 10; “This Manuscript Is Worth a Fortune,” St. Louis Republic, 10 Nov. 1895, 26; Andrew Jenson et al., “Historical Landmarks,” Deseret Evening News, 17 Sept. 1888, [2].
St. Louis Republic. St. Louis, MO. 1888–1919.
his widow, Sylvia, and her sister-in-law Julia Schweich gave the manuscript to Julia’s son, George Schweich, for the sum of one dollar “and the natural love and affection” they held for him.
16
Sylvia R. Whitmer and Julia A. Schweich to George W. Schweich, Deed of Transfer, Ray Co., MO, Deed Records, 1820–1927, vol. 65, pp. 575–576, 2 July 1895, microfilm 2,444,896, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; see also “This Manuscript Is Worth a Fortune,” St. Louis Republic, 10 Nov. 1895, 26. Schweich kept the manuscript for at least some of the time in a bank vault in Richmond, Missouri.
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
While the manuscript was in his possession, Schweich attempted to sell it, along with other documents held by the Whitmer family, to potential buyers, including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
17
See, for instance, Joseph F. Smith, Salt Lake City, UT, to Samuel Russell Jr., Bern, Switzerland, 19 Mar. 1901, Samuel Russell Sr. Family Papers, 1822–1954, BYU.
Smith, Joseph F. Letter, Salt Lake City, UT, to Samuel Russell Jr., Bern, Switzerland, 19 Mar. 1901. Samuel Russell Sr. Family Papers, 1822–1954. BYU.
At one point in 1900, the manuscript was with a
New York City
Dutch founded New Netherland colony, 1625. Incorporated under British control and renamed New York, 1664. Harbor contributed to economic and population growth of city; became largest city in American colonies. British troops defeated Continental Army under...
More Info
manuscript dealer named William E. Benjamin, who was attempting to sell the manuscript, likely on commission.
18
George Schweich, Richmond, MO, to O. R. Beardsley, 17 Jan. 1900, Miscellanea, Marie Eccles-Caine Archives of Intermountain Americana, Utah State University Special Collections, Logan; Joseph F. Smith, Salt Lake City, UT, to Samuel Russell Jr., Bern, Switzerland, 19 Mar. 1901, Samuel Russell Sr. Family Papers, 1822–1954, BYU; Brigham, “William Evarts Benjamin,” 9–11; see also Riley, Founder of Mormonism, 102n61.
Schweich, George. Letter, Richmond, MO, to O. R. Beardsley, 17 Jan. 1900. Miscellanea, Marie Eccles-Caine Archives of Intermountain Americana, Utah State University Special Collections, Logan.
Brigham, Clarence S. “William Evarts Benjamin.” In Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society. Vol. 50, April 17, 1940–October 16, 1940, 9–11. Worcester, MA: American Antiquarian Society, 1941.
Riley, I. Woodbridge. The Founder of Mormonism: A Psychological Study of Joseph Smith, Jr. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1902.
At another point, Schweich mortgaged the manuscript for $1,800 to raise money.
19
Anderson, Diary, 16 May 1907.
Anderson, George Edward. Diary, Apr.–Aug. 1907. George Edward Anderson, Diaries, 1907–1911. Microfilm. CHL.
When alerted to the opportunity to purchase the manuscript, Joseph F. Smith of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints rejected the offer, reasoning the manuscript was simply a copy and held little value since the book was available in multiple editions and printings.
20
Joseph F. Smith, Salt Lake City, UT, to Samuel Russell Jr., Bern, Switzerland, 19 Mar. 1901, Samuel Russell Sr. Family Papers, 1822–1954, BYU.
Schweich finally succeeded in selling the manuscript and other historical documents to the RLDS church (now Community of Christ) in April 1903 for $2,450.
21
“Minutes of First Presidency,” 24 Apr. 1902, CCLA; “Minutes of General Conference,” Saints’ Herald, 1904, supplement, 689; Israel A. Smith, “A ‘Sealed’ Book,” Saints’ Herald, 28 Feb. 1942, 262–263; Walter W. Smith, Independence, MO, to S. A. Burgess, Independence, MO, 15 Apr. 1926, J. F. Curtis, Papers, CCLA; “Book of Mormon Manuscript,” Archaeology: Book of Mormon Manuscript Correspondence and Clippings, 1899–1949, CCLA.
“Minutes of First Presidency, March 1898 to September 1907, Record No. 1.” CCLA.
Saints’ Herald. Independence, MO. 1860–.
Curtis, J. F. Papers. CCLA.

The RLDS church owned the manuscript from 1903 to 2017 and made various efforts to protect and preserve it. Until 1991 the manuscript was stored in a bank in
Jackson County
Settled at Fort Osage, 1808. County created, 16 Feb. 1825; organized 1826. Named after U.S. president Andrew Jackson. Featured fertile lands along Missouri River and was Santa Fe Trail departure point, which attracted immigrants to area. Area of county reduced...
More Info
, Missouri, and brought out occasionally for display at world conferences of the RLDS church.
22
Frederick M. Smith, Lamoni, IA, to Oscar W. Newton, Salt Lake City, UT, 20 June 1907, Subject Folder Collection, Adam-ondi-Ahman to Church Literature, CCLA; Elbert A. Smith, [Independence, MO], to G. H. Elmer, Cove, OR, 27 Sept. 1957, Subject Folder Collection, Book of Mormon, CCLA; Romig, “Community of Christ Church Possession of Book of Mormon Printer’s Manuscript,” 3; Romig, “Printer’s Manuscript,” 34.
Smith, Frederick M. Letter, Lamoni, IA, to Oscar W. Newton, Salt Lake City, UT, 20 June 1907. Subject Folder Collection, Adam-ondi-Ahman to Church Literature. CCLA.
Smith, Elbert A. Letter, [Independence, MO], to G. H. Elmer, Cove, OR, 27 Sept. 1957. Subject Folder Collection, Book of Mormon. CCLA.
Romig, Ronald E. “Community of Christ Church Possession of Book of Mormon Printer’s Manuscript.” Unpublished report, last modified 15 May 2007. CCLA. Copy in editors’ possession.
Romig, Ronald E. “The Printer’s Manuscript.” In Uncovering the Original Text of the Book of Mormon: History and Findings of the Critical Text Project, edited by M. Gerald Bradford and Alison V. P. Coutts, 32–38. Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2002.
A fireproof container was made for the manuscript in the early 1920s.
23
Letter to Frederick M. Smith, [Independence, MO], 16 May 1929, Archaeology: Book of Mormon Manuscript Correspondence and Clippings, 1899–1949, CCLA; see also Israel A. Smith, Letter, [Independence, MO], Archaeology: Book of Mormon Manuscript Correspondence and Clippings, 1899–1949, CCLA. Israel A. Smith described the container of the manuscript: “Its now in a fire proof holder, that slides tight into another; and that into a third. Then we ke[e]p it in a fire proof vauly [vault].”
Between October 1922 and October 1923, E. Hobson Tordoff took the manuscript to Berkeley, California, where he separated the still-attached bifolium pages, reattached with clear adhesive the pages that were cut horizontally, and produced photographs of the entire manuscript.
24
E. Hobson Tordoff, Berkeley, CA, to RLDS Presiding Bishopric, Independence, MO, 20 Feb. 1924, Archaeology: Book of Mormon Manuscript Correspondence and Clippings, 1899–1949, CCLA; Romig, “Community of Christ Church Possession of Book of Mormon Printer’s Manuscript,” 2.
The manuscript was microfilmed in 1966 and again in 1968. A new set of color photographs was taken in September 1992 by Nevin Skousen, under the auspices of the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project, and another was taken after conservation of the manuscript in 1997.
25
Romig, “Community of Christ Church Possession of Book of Mormon Printer’s Manuscript,” 3, 5, 8–9.
During the second conservation, conservators from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in cooperation with leaders and archivists of the RLDS church, “carefully cleaned, washed, deacidified, stabilized, repaired, and encapsulated [the pages] between layers of inert Mylar.”
26
Romig, “Community of Christ Church Possession of Book of Mormon Printer’s Manuscript,” 8.
The photographs of the manuscript that appear in this volume were taken in 2012.
27
See Note on Photographic Facsimiles.
In 2017, the LDS church acquired the manuscript, and it is now held at the Church History Library in Salt Lake City.

Note: The transcript of the printer’s manuscript of the Book of Mormon on this website includes only the original inscriptions, not the later redactions made to the manuscript to prepare the text for publication. Readers will notice many discrepancies between the images and the transcript. For a transcript that includes the redactions, consult the facsimile images available by clicking on the book icon to the left of the images; see also Revelations and Translations, Volume 3, Part 1: Printer’s Manuscript of the Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 1–Alma 35, facsimile ed. (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2015) and Revelations and Translations, Volume 3, Part 2: Printer’s Manuscript of the Book of Mormon, Alma 36–Moroni 10, facsimile ed. (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).
Footnotes
[1]
Specific measurements of each paper type used and a more detailed physical description of the manuscript can be found in Skousen, Printer’s Manuscript, 30–36.
[2]
The outliers are the eighth, seventeenth, nineteenth, and twenty-first gatherings, which are composed of five, three, three, and four sheets, respectively. The gatherings are folded in half, forming twice as many leaves and four times as many pages as there are sheets. The last gathering’s final two leaves (presumably blank) are no longer extant and were probably discarded during or shortly after the printing process.
[3]
The only exception to this pattern was when Oliver Cowdery and scribe 2 both wrote on manuscript page 157. Cowdery inscribed the page, and when he was finished, scribe 2 placed the page number at the upper right corner, likely because there was more space for the number there than in the upper left corner. (Book of Mormon, Printer’s Manuscript, ca. Aug. 1829–ca. Jan. 1830, p. 157.)
[4]
The first gathering may also have been marked with a signature mark, but the bottom portion of the page is missing from the first leaf, making it impossible to ascertain the existence of a signature mark.
[5]
Though it is possible that another individual in the Palmyra print shop marked up portions of the manuscript, the evenness of the ink and consistency of the shape of punctuation and other marks suggest that a single individual, most likely John H. Gilbert, marked up the manuscript in preparation for publication. (See “Mormon Leaders at Their Mecca,” New York Herald, 25 June 1893, 12; see also Skousen, “John Gilbert’s 1892 Account,” 58–72.)
[6]
Evidence of these pins comes from the holes they created and the rust marks left by the heads of the pins; the pins themselves are not extant.
[7]
Burgess made this observation in a letter he wrote to Israel A. Smith after 1923. A Missouri newspaper observed that the manuscript was “yellow with age, of large, old fashioned, unruled foolscap paper, closely written upon both sides with ink and fastened together in sections with yarn strings.” (Skousen, Printer’s Manuscript, 15; “Mormonism,” Kansas City (MO) Daily Journal, 5 June 1881, [1].)
[8]
Cannon, Journal, 27 Feb. 1884.
[9]
Cannon, Journal, 27 Feb. 1884. E. Hobson Tordoff, who conserved the manuscript in the early twentieth century, documented the state of the gatherings of the manuscript and showed that as early as the twentieth century, a little less than half of the manuscript pages were still intact and folded within gatherings. The pages that were bound with yarn were probably the four gatherings that never went to the print shop. The stain from the yarn can still be seen in those four gatherings. (E. Hobson Tordoff, Note, 20 Oct. 1922, Archaeology: Book of Mormon Manuscript Correspondence and Clippings, 1899–1949, CCLA.)
[10]
“Preface,” Book of Mormon, 1837 ed., v.
[11]
[12]
See Lyndon W. Cook, ed., David Whitmer Interviews: A Restoration Witness (Orem, UT: Grandin Book, 1991), for a book-length compilation of Whitmer’s reminiscences, experiences, and custodianship of the manuscripts in his possession as reported by visitors and interviewers. Whitmer felt it his sacred duty to be custodian of the text and often welcomed visitors who wished to see it or interview him about it. He told Orson Pratt and Joseph F. Smith, “Oliver [Cowdery] charged me to keep it [the manuscript], and Joseph [Smith] said my Fathers house should ‘keep the Records’ &c. I consider these things sacred and would not part with, nor barter them for money.” (Joseph F. Smith, New York City, NY, to John Taylor et al., [Salt Lake City, Utah Territory], 17 Sept. 1878, draft, Joseph F. Smith, Papers, CHL.)
[13]
Joseph F. Smith and Orson Pratt pointed out to Whitmer in 1878 that the signatures on the witness pages were copied and not original signatures, whereupon Smith suggested “that perhaps there were two copies of the manuscript, But Mr. Whitmer replied that according to the best of his Knowledge there never was but the one copy.” Following an inspection of the manuscript in 1884, James H. Hart reported a conversation with Whitmer, wherein Hart stated “that it looked very much as though it was the original copy,” going on to explain that “it would in fact take considerable more evidence than I had seen to convince me that it was not the original and only written copy.” Whitmer responded in the affirmative, “I know, positively, that it is so.” (J. F. Smith to J. Taylor et al., 17 Sept. 1878; James H. Hart, “About the Book of Mormon,” Deseret Evening News [Salt Lake City], 25 Mar. 1884, [2].)
[14]
“Mormonism,” Kansas City (MO) Daily Journal, 5 June 1881, [1]; Cannon, Journal, 27 Feb. 1884. One story was told years later of several neighbors of Whitmer who were attempting to steal the manuscript but were frightened away by rattlesnakes. (Israel A. Smith, Letter, [Independence, MO], Archaeology: Book of Mormon Manuscript Correspondence and Clippings, 1899–1949, CCLA.)
[15]
“David J. Whitmer Dead,” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City), 29 June 1895, 10; “This Manuscript Is Worth a Fortune,” St. Louis Republic, 10 Nov. 1895, 26; Andrew Jenson et al., “Historical Landmarks,” Deseret Evening News, 17 Sept. 1888, [2].
[16]
Sylvia R. Whitmer and Julia A. Schweich to George W. Schweich, Deed of Transfer, Ray Co., MO, Deed Records, 1820–1927, vol. 65, pp. 575–576, 2 July 1895, microfilm 2,444,896, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; see also “This Manuscript Is Worth a Fortune,” St. Louis Republic, 10 Nov. 1895, 26. Schweich kept the manuscript for at least some of the time in a bank vault in Richmond, Missouri.
[17]
See, for instance, Joseph F. Smith, Salt Lake City, UT, to Samuel Russell Jr., Bern, Switzerland, 19 Mar. 1901, Samuel Russell Sr. Family Papers, 1822–1954, BYU.
[18]
George Schweich, Richmond, MO, to O. R. Beardsley, 17 Jan. 1900, Miscellanea, Marie Eccles-Caine Archives of Intermountain Americana, Utah State University Special Collections, Logan; Joseph F. Smith, Salt Lake City, UT, to Samuel Russell Jr., Bern, Switzerland, 19 Mar. 1901, Samuel Russell Sr. Family Papers, 1822–1954, BYU; Brigham, “William Evarts Benjamin,” 9–11; see also Riley, Founder of Mormonism, 102n61.
Schweich, George. Letter, Richmond, MO, to O. R. Beardsley, 17 Jan. 1900. Miscellanea, Marie Eccles-Caine Archives of Intermountain Americana, Utah State University Special Collections, Logan.
Brigham, Clarence S. “William Evarts Benjamin.” In Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society. Vol. 50, April 17, 1940–October 16, 1940, 9–11. Worcester, MA: American Antiquarian Society, 1941.
Riley, I. Woodbridge. The Founder of Mormonism: A Psychological Study of Joseph Smith, Jr. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1902.
[19]
Anderson, Diary, 16 May 1907.
Anderson, George Edward. Diary, Apr.–Aug. 1907. George Edward Anderson, Diaries, 1907–1911. Microfilm. CHL.
[20]
Joseph F. Smith, Salt Lake City, UT, to Samuel Russell Jr., Bern, Switzerland, 19 Mar. 1901, Samuel Russell Sr. Family Papers, 1822–1954, BYU.
[21]
“Minutes of First Presidency,” 24 Apr. 1902, CCLA; “Minutes of General Conference,” Saints’ Herald, 1904, supplement, 689; Israel A. Smith, “A ‘Sealed’ Book,” Saints’ Herald, 28 Feb. 1942, 262–263; Walter W. Smith, Independence, MO, to S. A. Burgess, Independence, MO, 15 Apr. 1926, J. F. Curtis, Papers, CCLA; “Book of Mormon Manuscript,” Archaeology: Book of Mormon Manuscript Correspondence and Clippings, 1899–1949, CCLA.
“Minutes of First Presidency, March 1898 to September 1907, Record No. 1.” CCLA.
Curtis, J. F. Papers. CCLA.
[22]
Frederick M. Smith, Lamoni, IA, to Oscar W. Newton, Salt Lake City, UT, 20 June 1907, Subject Folder Collection, Adam-ondi-Ahman to Church Literature, CCLA; Elbert A. Smith, [Independence, MO], to G. H. Elmer, Cove, OR, 27 Sept. 1957, Subject Folder Collection, Book of Mormon, CCLA; Romig, “Community of Christ Church Possession of Book of Mormon Printer’s Manuscript,” 3; Romig, “Printer’s Manuscript,” 34.
Smith, Frederick M. Letter, Lamoni, IA, to Oscar W. Newton, Salt Lake City, UT, 20 June 1907. Subject Folder Collection, Adam-ondi-Ahman to Church Literature. CCLA.
Smith, Elbert A. Letter, [Independence, MO], to G. H. Elmer, Cove, OR, 27 Sept. 1957. Subject Folder Collection, Book of Mormon. CCLA.
Romig, Ronald E. “The Printer’s Manuscript.” In Uncovering the Original Text of the Book of Mormon: History and Findings of the Critical Text Project, edited by M. Gerald Bradford and Alison V. P. Coutts, 32–38. Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2002.
[23]
Letter to Frederick M. Smith, [Independence, MO], 16 May 1929, Archaeology: Book of Mormon Manuscript Correspondence and Clippings, 1899–1949, CCLA; see also Israel A. Smith, Letter, [Independence, MO], Archaeology: Book of Mormon Manuscript Correspondence and Clippings, 1899–1949, CCLA. Israel A. Smith described the container of the manuscript: “Its now in a fire proof holder, that slides tight into another; and that into a third. Then we ke[e]p it in a fire proof vauly [vault].”
[24]
E. Hobson Tordoff, Berkeley, CA, to RLDS Presiding Bishopric, Independence, MO, 20 Feb. 1924, Archaeology: Book of Mormon Manuscript Correspondence and Clippings, 1899–1949, CCLA; Romig, “Community of Christ Church Possession of Book of Mormon Printer’s Manuscript,” 2.
[25]
Romig, “Community of Christ Church Possession of Book of Mormon Printer’s Manuscript,” 3, 5, 8–9.
[26]
Romig, “Community of Christ Church Possession of Book of Mormon Printer’s Manuscript,” 8.
[27]
See Note on Photographic Facsimiles.
Historical Introduction
Following the completion of the Book of Mormon translation by early July 1829,
1
“Mormonism,” Kansas City (MO) Daily Journal, 5 June 1881, [1]; Whitmer, Address to All Believers in Christ, 32; JS History, vol. A-1, 21–22, 34; Cannon, Journal, 27 Feb. 1884.
Whitmer, David. An Address to All Believers in Christ. Richmond, MO: By the author, 1887.

Oliver Cowdery
View Full Bio
began work on a second copy of the Book of Mormon manuscript for use in the publication process. Meanwhile, JS and
Martin Harris
18 May 1783–10 July 1875. Farmer. Born at Easton, Albany Co., New York. Son of Nathan Harris and Rhoda Lapham. Moved with parents to area of Swift’s landing (later in Palmyra), Ontario Co., New York, 1793. Married first his first cousin Lucy Harris, 27 Mar...
View Full Bio
looked for a printer to publish the book. They first approached
Palmyra
More Info
, New York, printer
Egbert B. Grandin
30 Mar. 1806–16 Apr. 1845. Printer, newspaper editor and publisher, butcher, shipper, tanner. Born in Freehold, Monmouth Co., New Jersey. Son of William Grandin and Amy Lewis. Moved to Williamson, Ontario Co., New York, by 1810; to Pultneyville, Ontario Co...
View Full Bio
in the summer of 1829 regarding the prospect of publishing the Book of Mormon, but he turned them down. Seeking other options, JS and Harris traveled as far away as
Rochester
Located at falls of Genesee River, seven miles south of Lake Ontario, on Erie Canal. Founded 1812. Incorporated as village, 1817. Originally called Rochesterville; name changed to Rochester, 1822. Incorporated as city, 1834. County seat. Population in 1820...
More Info
, New York, to find a printer.
2
Thurlow Weed, Statement, New York City, NY, 12 Apr. 1880, in Dickinson, New Light on Mormonism, 260–261.
Dickinson, Ellen E. New Light on Mormonism. New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1885.
They secured a bid from Elihu Marshall of Rochester but still hoped to have the book printed in Palmyra, where Smith’s associates could more readily supervise the process.
3
Tucker, Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism, 52; John H. Gilbert, Memorandum, 8 Sept. 1892, photocopy, CHL. Gilbert recalled that Harris was hesitant to print the book in Rochester because that would mean paying for someone to stay in Rochester and visit Palmyra two or three times per week to retrieve the manuscript as scribes continued to copy the text.
Tucker, Pomeroy. Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism: Biography of Its Founders and History of Its Church. New York: D. Appleton, 1867.
Gilbert, John H. Memorandum, 8 Sept. 1892. Photocopy. CHL. MS 9223.
Smith and Harris therefore asked Grandin to reconsider. According to Grandin’s compositor, John H. Gilbert, Grandin and Gilbert prepared a bid, and “Mr Grandin consented to do the job if his terms were accepted.”
4
John H. Gilbert, Memorandum, 8 Sept. 1892, photocopy, CHL; see also Historical Introduction to Book of Mormon Manuscript Excerpt, ca. June 1829 [1 Nephi 2:2b–3:18a]; and Historical Introduction to Revelation, ca. Summer 1829 [D&C 19].
Grandin likely would not have purchased type or otherwise begun work on the book without first receiving payment. Harris mortgaged his farm on 25 August 1829 to pay the $3,000 Grandin required to publish five thousand copies, and work began soon after.
5
Martin Harris to Egbert B. Grandin, Indenture, Wayne Co., NY, 25 Aug. 1829, Wayne Co., NY, Mortgage Records, vol. 3, pp. 325–326, microfilm 479,556, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; John H. Gilbert, Memorandum, 8 Sept. 1892, photocopy, CHL; see also Historical Introduction to Book of Mormon Manuscript Excerpt, ca. June 1829 [1 Nephi 2:2b–3:18a]; and Historical Introduction to Revelation, ca. Summer 1829 [D&C 19].

Harris
View Full Bio
’s loss of the initial portion of the Book of Mormon manuscript a year earlier made JS and his associates especially wary about the safety of the manuscript.
6
Revelation, July 1828 [D&C 3].
The printer’s manuscript served both to provide a security copy and to facilitate publication of the Book of Mormon.
Lucy Mack Smith
8 July 1775–14 May 1856. Oilcloth painter, nurse, fund-raiser, author. Born at Gilsum, Cheshire Co., New Hampshire. Daughter of Solomon Mack Sr. and Lydia Gates. Moved to Montague, Franklin Co., Massachusetts, 1779; to Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont, 1788...
View Full Bio
, JS’s mother, later said that the direction to make a second copy of the Book of Mormon manuscript came through a revelation to her son, though no such revelation text is known.
7
Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844–1845, bk. 9, [2].
According to her, JS instructed
Cowdery
View Full Bio
to “never take both transcripts to the [printing] office.” He was also to have someone accompany him whenever transporting the manuscript, “for the purpose of protecting him in case of danger. that if this precaution was not taken his enemies would be likely to waylay him in order to get the manuscript away from him.”
8

Three scribes—
Oliver Cowdery
View Full Bio
, an unknown scribe (scribe 2), and
Hyrum Smith
View Full Bio
—created the printer’s manuscript in the
Palmyra
First permanent white settlers arrived, ca. 1789. Included village of Palmyra. Erie Canal opened, 1825, in southern portion of township. Population in 1810 about 2,200. Population in 1830 about 3,400. Home of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith family, beginning...
More Info
area during a period of roughly five months. Cowdery inscribed 84 percent of the manuscript, while scribe 2 copied about 15 percent, and Hyrum Smith wrote less than 1 percent. The entire manuscript consists of twenty-one gatherings (collections of folded leaves that normally contain twenty-four pages). Cowdery wrote the first six gatherings (through manuscript page 144);
9
Book of Mormon, Printer’s Manuscript, ca. Aug. 1829–ca. Jan. 1830, pp. 1–144 [Mosiah 18:4].
then Cowdery, scribe 2, and Hyrum Smith took turns copying the next gathering (manuscript pages 145–168);
10
Book of Mormon, Printer’s Manuscript, ca. Aug. 1829–ca. Jan. 1830, pp. 145–168 [Mosiah 18:4–29:39].
and scribe 2 and Hyrum Smith copied the eighth gathering (manuscript pages 169–188).
11
Book of Mormon, Printer’s Manuscript, ca. Aug. 1829–ca. Jan. 1830, pp. 169–188 [Mosiah 29:39–Alma 8:16].
The ninth gathering begins in the handwriting of scribe 2 and ends in that of Cowdery, who also copied the next eight gatherings (through manuscript page 392).
12
Book of Mormon, Printer’s Manuscript, ca. Aug. 1829–ca. Jan. 1830, pp. 189–392 [3 Nephi 18:30].
Cowdery copied the first two pages of the eighteenth gathering, and then scribe 2 finished that gathering and the entire nineteenth gathering (through manuscript page 428).
13
Book of Mormon, Printer’s Manuscript, ca. Aug. 1829–ca. Jan. 1830, pp. 393–428 [Mormon 9:37].
Cowdery copied the final two gatherings. A comparison of the text of the extant original manuscript and the text of the printer’s manuscript reveals an average of three scribal errors or changes per extant original manuscript page by Cowdery, the scribe for whom the most data exists to make such an analysis.
14
Skousen, “Oliver Cowdery as Book of Mormon Scribe,” 54–56.
Skousen, Royal. “Oliver Cowdery as Book of Mormon Scribe.” In Days Never to Be Forgotten: Oliver Cowdery, edited by Alexander L. Baugh, 51–72. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2009.

Only a few historical clues assist in reconstructing a chronology for the creation of the printer’s manuscript, though it is clear that it was created between the end of the translation (by early July 1829) and the completion of printing in mid-March 1830. Its creation also correlates roughly with the printing of the manuscript. Because
Grandin
View Full Bio
would not begin work until he was paid, it is unlikely any type was set until after the 25 August 1829 agreement between
Harris
View Full Bio
and Grandin that secured funding for the project.
15
Martin Harris to Egbert B. Grandin, Indenture, Wayne Co., NY, 25 Aug. 1829, Wayne Co., NY, Mortgage Records, vol. 3, pp. 325–326, microfilm 479,556, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; see also Historical Introduction to Revelation, ca. Summer 1829 [D&C 19].
This is confirmed by Gilbert, the compositor and part-time pressman for the book, who gave many interviews late in his life about his involvement in the publication. Gilbert said that typesetting did not begin until after Grandin “went to
New York
Dutch founded New Netherland colony, 1625. Incorporated under British control and renamed New York, 1664. Harbor contributed to economic and population growth of city; became largest city in American colonies. British troops defeated Continental Army under...
More Info
” to purchase five hundred pounds of new type, a trip that occurred after “Harris had promised to insure the payment for the printing.”
16
“Mormon Leaders at Their Mecca,” New York Herald, 25 June 1893, 12. Grandin considered Harris’s 25 August 1829 mortgage to be payment for the printing. (See Historical Introduction to Revelation, ca. Summer 1829 [D&C 19].)
If the actual printing indeed waited until Grandin returned from his trip to New York,
Cowdery
View Full Bio
must have begun copying the printer’s manuscript by the time Grandin was away, if not earlier.
17
If Grandin began his trip to New York City after 25 August 1829, he would not have returned until several weeks later.

Aside from approximate starting and ending dates, few indicators of progress in the copying effort survive.
Cowdery
View Full Bio
provided the only certain milepost when he informed JS in a 6 November 1829 letter that copying had been completed up through the first 261 pages.
18
In a letter to JS, Oliver Cowdery wrote, “I have Just got to alma commandment to his Son in coppyinng the manscrip.” In the book of Alma, Alma the younger gave instruction and counsel to his three sons. This instruction begins on page 261 of the printer’s manuscript. (Letter from Oliver Cowdery, 6 Nov. 1829; Book of Mormon, Printer’s Manuscript, ca. Aug. 1829–ca. Jan. 1830, pp. 261–274 [Alma 36–42].)
An event associated with
Grandin
View Full Bio
’s print shop also provides an approximate point of reference.
Abner Cole
Aug. 1783–13 July 1835. Bar iron and castings manufacturer, judge, newspaper editor and publisher. Likely born in Chesterfield, Hampshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of Southworth Cole and Ruxby Bryant. Moved to Geneva, Ontario and Seneca counties, New York, ...
View Full Bio
printed the
Palmyra
More Info
newspaper the Reflector on Grandin’s press at nights and on Sundays. Without authorization, Cole reprinted portions of the Book of Mormon’s book of Alma in the 22 January 1830 issue of the Reflector.
19
“Book of Mormon,” Reflector (Palmyra, NY), 22 Jan. 1830, 27–28; see also Book of Mormon, Printer’s Manuscript, ca. Aug. 1829–ca. Jan. 1830, pp. 276–277 [Alma 43:22–40]. Cole, who used Grandin’s printing equipment on evenings and Sundays to publish his newspaper, first published extracts from the Book of Mormon in his 2 January and 13 January issues. Upon discovering Cole’s pirated printing of the Book of Mormon, Oliver Cowdery, Hyrum Smith, and others sent for JS who, according to later reminiscences, quickly returned to Palmyra from Harmony, Pennsylvania, and confronted Cole, who agreed to cease publication. No excerpts appeared in the Reflector after 22 January. (“The First Book of Nephi,” Reflector [Palmyra, NY], 2 Jan. 1830, 9; “The First Book of Nephi,” Reflector [Palmyra, NY], 13 Jan. 1830, 17; see also JSP, D1:27–28; and Historical Introduction to Letter from Oliver Cowdery, 28 Dec. 1829.)
Reflector. Palmyra, NY. 1821–1831.
JSP, D1 / MacKay, Michael Hubbard, Gerrit J. Dirkmaat, Grant Underwood, Robert J. Woodford, and William G. Hartley, eds. Documents, Volume 1: July 1828–June 1831. Vol. 1 of the Document series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman. Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2013.
A comparison of Cole’s excerpt and the 1830 printed edition shows that Cole rearranged type that had already been set for the book.
20
In five instances, Cole forgot to add a space when he moved a word at the end of one line next to a word at the beginning of the next line. This mistake indicates the type used by Cole in his newspaper was rearranged by Cole from the type used in the 1830 printing. Cole had to introduce or remove end-of-line hyphens to fit the narrower columns of his newspaper.
This confirms that printing of the twenty-second sheet of the Book of Mormon (through page 352 of the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon) had been completed by 22 January 1830. This same sheet roughly corresponds to the end of the twelfth gathering (through manuscript page 284) of the printer’s manuscript. By the time the printers had finished printing the twenty-second sheet, typesetting would certainly have begun on the twenty-third sheet, which corresponds roughly to the thirteenth gathering of the printer’s manuscript. The copying of the thirteenth gathering (through manuscript page 308) of the printer’s manuscript, therefore, would have been completed by 22 January 1830, though how far ahead the scribes were in creating the printer’s manuscript is unknown.

The pace of scribal work accelerated during the creation of the later portion of the manuscript.
Oliver Cowdery
View Full Bio
and scribe 2 appear to have coordinated efforts to finish the manuscript more quickly than could one scribe alone. While scribe 2 was working on the eighteenth and nineteenth gatherings (beginning with manuscript page 393), Cowdery bypassed his scribal colleague and began chapter 1 of the book of Ether on a new gathering (beginning with manuscript page 429). By the time both scribes finished their respective copying, scribe 2 had caught up to where Cowdery began (the twentieth gathering); Cowdery then finished the final words of the manuscript.
21
While this rushed effort may indicate the scribes had fallen behind in their copying, it is possible that the pace of copying accelerated because early church members needed the printer’s manuscript to obtain a copyright for the Book of Mormon in Canada. (See Revelation, ca. Early 1830; see also Skousen, “Why Was One Sixth of the 1830 Book of Mormon Set from the Original Manuscript?,” 93–103.)
Skousen, Royal. “Why Was One Sixth of the 1830 Book of Mormon Set from the Original Manuscript?” Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture 2 (2012): 93–103.

With the first portion of the printer’s manuscript in hand, Gilbert began setting type using the five hundred pounds of new small pica type
Grandin
View Full Bio
had purchased for the project.
22
“Mormon Leaders at Their Mecca,” New York Herald, 25 June 1893, 12. Before standard measurements of type size, names were used for sizes. “Small pica” corresponds roughly to 11-point size type. (See Pasko, American Dictionary of Printing, 521–522, as excerpted in Rummonds, Nineteenth-Century Printing Practices, 1:234.)
Pasko, Wesley Washington. American Dictionary of Printing and Bookmaking, Containing a History of These Arts in Europe and America, with Definitions of Technical Terms and Biographical Sketches. New York: Howard Lockwood, 1894. As excerpted in Richard-Gabriel Rummonds, Nineteenth-Century Printing Practices and the Iron Handpress, 2 vols. (New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 2004).
Though a compositor at times marked up the manuscript ahead of typesetting, Gilbert also appears to have been skilled enough to add punctuation, capitalization, and paragraphing as he set type when a section of manuscript had not been marked up in advance. Only about 39 percent of the printer’s manuscript pages contain editing marks that were inserted in advance of typesetting. The original manuscript of the Book of Mormon contains virtually no punctuation, and the scribes for the printer’s manuscript added very little of their own. Gilbert eventually convinced
Hyrum Smith
View Full Bio
, who was bringing the manuscript to the office every morning, to allow him to take it home so that he could punctuate the manuscript overnight before he had to set the type the next day. It is unknown, however, how consistently Gilbert took the manuscript home.
23
John H. Gilbert, Memorandum, 8 Sept. 1892, photocopy, CHL. Some punctuation appears to have been added in ink when Gilbert took the manuscript home for several nights to punctuate the Isaiah excerpts with the help of his King James Version of the Bible. Most of the punctuation added by Gilbert, however, was inscribed in pencil—probably in the print shop. (See Skousen, “John Gilbert’s 1892 Account,” 63–67.)
Speaking of
Harris
View Full Bio
and Hyrum Smith, Gilbert remembered, “I called their attention to a grammatical error, and asked whether I should correct it? Harris consulted with Smith a short time, and turned to me and said; ‘The Old Testament is ungrammatical, set it as it is written.’”
24
John H. Gilbert, Memorandum, 8 Sept. 1892, photocopy, CHL; see also “Mormon Leaders at Their Mecca,” New York Herald, 25 June 1893, 12.
Gilbert, however, made occasional grammatical fixes—particularly at the end of the printing process.
25
See Skousen, “John Gilbert’s 1892 Account,” 63.

Gilbert later asserted that he set the type for about 500 of the 589 printed pages.
26
Andrew Jenson et al., “The Hill Cumorah,” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City), 11 Oct. 1888, [2].

Cowdery
View Full Bio
also set the type for a few pages, and when Gilbert “was hurried to get a form [that is, a series of pages of typeset text] ready for the press other compositors would be sent to help him.” On these occasions, Gilbert apparently cut the pages to facilitate the work.
27
John H. Gilbert, Palmyra, NY, to James T. Cobb, Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, 10 Feb. 1879, in Theodore Schroeder Papers . . . Relating to Mormonism; Andrew Jenson et al., “The Hill Cumorah,” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City), 11 Oct. 1888, [2].
Gilbert, John H. Letter, Palmyra, NY, to James T. Cobb, Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, 10 Feb. 1879. Theodore Schroeder Papers: Corres., Writings and Printed Ephemera Relating to Mormonism. Microfilm. New York: New York Public Library Photographic Service, 1986. Copy at CHL.
According to Gilbert, each printed sheet was checked against the manuscript to ensure the accuracy of the typesetting. This proofing was largely done by Cowdery.
28
“Cowdery held and looked over the manuscript when most of the proofs were read. Martin Harris once or twice, and Hyrum Smith once.” Gilbert further recalled that “but very little punctuation was altered in proof-reading.” (John H. Gilbert, Memorandum, 8 Sept. 1892, photocopy, CHL.)
Gilbert recalled that the type was printed in a work-and-turn technique, so that two copies of each gathering were printed on each sheet.
29
John H. Gilbert, Memorandum, 8 Sept. 1892, photocopy, CHL.
According to Gilbert, each form took three days to print prior to December 1829.
30
Those in the shop continued to work two days per week on the Wayne Sentinel, a local newspaper. This allowed them time to set the type for an average of one and a third gatherings per week, print five thousand copies of that sheet, and return the type to the cases. In December,
Grandin
View Full Bio
hired Thomas McAuley to assist printer
Jacob H. Bortles
View Full Bio
in the press work, which Gilbert had been assisting with before that time, in addition to his work as compositor. Gilbert recalled that with McAuley’s help, they could typeset and print two forms of the Book of Mormon in one week.
31
John H. Gilbert, Memorandum, 8 Sept. 1892, photocopy, CHL; Wayne County (NY) Journal, 3 May 1883, in Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 2:545n10.
Vogel, Dan, ed. Early Mormon Documents. 5 vols. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1996–2003.

Years later, during the winter of 1836–1837, JS and
Oliver Cowdery
View Full Bio
marked up the printer’s manuscript in preparation for the 1837 edition of the Book of Mormon. Most of the changes for that edition involved grammatical corrections or stylistic changes. The differences found in the 1837 edition compared with the 1830 are not always found marked in the printer’s manuscript, but when present, they are in the handwriting of JS. The preface to the second edition states that Smith and Cowdery “carefully re-examined and compared with the original manuscripts.”
32
“Preface,” Book of Mormon, 1837 ed., [v].
However, a comparison of the original manuscript, printer’s manuscript, and first edition indicates that only the printer’s manuscript and the first edition were used to prepare the second edition.
33
Skousen, Printer’s Manuscript, 18.

Following the 1837 publication,
Cowdery
View Full Bio
retained possession of the manuscript. Before he died in early 1850 in
Missouri
Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Latter-day Saint ...
More Info
, Cowdery charged
David Whitmer
View Full Bio
, his fellow Book of Mormon witness and brother-in-law, with the safekeeping of the manuscript.
34
Many of those who believed in the miraculous origins of the Book of Mormon sought Whitmer out, hoping to view the manuscript. On such occasions, Whitmer confirmed his written testimony of the book’s authenticity, which had been published with the book. Many visitors remembered their pilgrimages to view the manuscript as powerful affirmations of the authenticity of the book.
35
See, for example, Cannon, Journal, 27 Feb. 1884; and Stevenson, Journal, 2 Jan. 1887.
Stevenson, Edward. Journals, 1852–1896. Edward Stevenson, Collection, 1849–1922. CHL. MS 4806, boxes 1–4.
In 1884, Whitmer allowed members of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to consult the printer’s manuscript in order to compare the manuscript with the 1830 edition and the first RLDS edition of the Book of Mormon (1874).
36
“Book of Mormon Committee Report,” Saints’ Herald, 23 Aug. 1884, 545–548.
Following the acquisition of the manuscript by the RLDS church in 1903, the manuscript was normally stored in a bank vault and brought out only occasionally for display. The typesetters of the third RLDS edition of the Book of Mormon (1908) used the manuscript to make many corrections to the printed text.
37
Skousen, Book of Mormon: The Earliest Text, 741.
Skousen, Royal, ed. The Book of Mormon: The Earliest Text. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009.

Note: The transcript of the printer’s manuscript of the Book of Mormon on this website includes only the original inscriptions, not the later redactions made to the manuscript to prepare the text for publication. Readers will notice many discrepancies between the images and the transcript. For a transcript that includes the redactions, consult the facsimile images available by clicking on the book icon to the left of the images; see also Revelations and Translations, Volume 3, Part 1: Printer’s Manuscript of the Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 1–Alma 35, facsimile ed. (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2015) and Revelations and Translations, Volume 3, Part 2: Printer’s Manuscript of the Book of Mormon, Alma 36–Moroni 10, facsimile ed. (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).
Footnotes
[1]
“Mormonism,” Kansas City (MO) Daily Journal, 5 June 1881, [1]; Whitmer, Address to All Believers in Christ, 32; JS History, vol. A-1, 21–22, 34; Cannon, Journal, 27 Feb. 1884.
Whitmer, David. An Address to All Believers in Christ. Richmond, MO: By the author, 1887.
[2]
Thurlow Weed, Statement, New York City, NY, 12 Apr. 1880, in Dickinson, New Light on Mormonism, 260–261.
Dickinson, Ellen E. New Light on Mormonism. New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1885.
[3]
Tucker, Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism, 52; John H. Gilbert, Memorandum, 8 Sept. 1892, photocopy, CHL. Gilbert recalled that Harris was hesitant to print the book in Rochester because that would mean paying for someone to stay in Rochester and visit Palmyra two or three times per week to retrieve the manuscript as scribes continued to copy the text.
Tucker, Pomeroy. Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism: Biography of Its Founders and History of Its Church. New York: D. Appleton, 1867.
[4]
John H. Gilbert, Memorandum, 8 Sept. 1892, photocopy, CHL; see also Historical Introduction to Book of Mormon Manuscript Excerpt, ca. June 1829 [1 Nephi 2:2b–3:18a]; and Historical Introduction to Revelation, ca. Summer 1829 [D&C 19].
[5]
Martin Harris to Egbert B. Grandin, Indenture, Wayne Co., NY, 25 Aug. 1829, Wayne Co., NY, Mortgage Records, vol. 3, pp. 325–326, microfilm 479,556, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; John H. Gilbert, Memorandum, 8 Sept. 1892, photocopy, CHL; see also Historical Introduction to Book of Mormon Manuscript Excerpt, ca. June 1829 [1 Nephi 2:2b–3:18a]; and Historical Introduction to Revelation, ca. Summer 1829 [D&C 19].
[6]
Revelation, July 1828 [D&C 3].
[7]
[8]
[9]
Book of Mormon, Printer’s Manuscript, ca. Aug. 1829–ca. Jan. 1830, pp. 1–144 [Mosiah 18:4].
[10]
Book of Mormon, Printer’s Manuscript, ca. Aug. 1829–ca. Jan. 1830, pp. 145–168 [Mosiah 18:4–29:39].
[11]
Book of Mormon, Printer’s Manuscript, ca. Aug. 1829–ca. Jan. 1830, pp. 169–188 [Mosiah 29:39–Alma 8:16].
[12]
Book of Mormon, Printer’s Manuscript, ca. Aug. 1829–ca. Jan. 1830, pp. 189–392 [3 Nephi 18:30].
[13]
Book of Mormon, Printer’s Manuscript, ca. Aug. 1829–ca. Jan. 1830, pp. 393–428 [Mormon 9:37].
[14]
Skousen, “Oliver Cowdery as Book of Mormon Scribe,” 54–56.
Skousen, Royal. “Oliver Cowdery as Book of Mormon Scribe.” In Days Never to Be Forgotten: Oliver Cowdery, edited by Alexander L. Baugh, 51–72. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2009.
[15]
Martin Harris to Egbert B. Grandin, Indenture, Wayne Co., NY, 25 Aug. 1829, Wayne Co., NY, Mortgage Records, vol. 3, pp. 325–326, microfilm 479,556, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; see also Historical Introduction to Revelation, ca. Summer 1829 [D&C 19].
[16]
“Mormon Leaders at Their Mecca,” New York Herald, 25 June 1893, 12. Grandin considered Harris’s 25 August 1829 mortgage to be payment for the printing. (See Historical Introduction to Revelation, ca. Summer 1829 [D&C 19].)
[17]
If Grandin began his trip to New York City after 25 August 1829, he would not have returned until several weeks later.
[18]
In a letter to JS, Oliver Cowdery wrote, “I have Just got to alma commandment to his Son in coppyinng the manscrip.” In the book of Alma, Alma the younger gave instruction and counsel to his three sons. This instruction begins on page 261 of the printer’s manuscript. (Letter from Oliver Cowdery, 6 Nov. 1829; Book of Mormon, Printer’s Manuscript, ca. Aug. 1829–ca. Jan. 1830, pp. 261–274 [Alma 36–42].)
[19]
“Book of Mormon,” Reflector (Palmyra, NY), 22 Jan. 1830, 27–28; see also Book of Mormon, Printer’s Manuscript, ca. Aug. 1829–ca. Jan. 1830, pp. 276–277 [Alma 43:22–40]. Cole, who used Grandin’s printing equipment on evenings and Sundays to publish his newspaper, first published extracts from the Book of Mormon in his 2 January and 13 January issues. Upon discovering Cole’s pirated printing of the Book of Mormon, Oliver Cowdery, Hyrum Smith, and others sent for JS who, according to later reminiscences, quickly returned to Palmyra from Harmony, Pennsylvania, and confronted Cole, who agreed to cease publication. No excerpts appeared in the Reflector after 22 January. (“The First Book of Nephi,” Reflector [Palmyra, NY], 2 Jan. 1830, 9; “The First Book of Nephi,” Reflector [Palmyra, NY], 13 Jan. 1830, 17; see also JSP, D1:27–28; and Historical Introduction to Letter from Oliver Cowdery, 28 Dec. 1829.)
Reflector. Palmyra, NY. 1821–1831.
JSP, D1 / MacKay, Michael Hubbard, Gerrit J. Dirkmaat, Grant Underwood, Robert J. Woodford, and William G. Hartley, eds. Documents, Volume 1: July 1828–June 1831. Vol. 1 of the Document series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman. Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2013.
[20]
In five instances, Cole forgot to add a space when he moved a word at the end of one line next to a word at the beginning of the next line. This mistake indicates the type used by Cole in his newspaper was rearranged by Cole from the type used in the 1830 printing. Cole had to introduce or remove end-of-line hyphens to fit the narrower columns of his newspaper.
[21]
While this rushed effort may indicate the scribes had fallen behind in their copying, it is possible that the pace of copying accelerated because early church members needed the printer’s manuscript to obtain a copyright for the Book of Mormon in Canada. (See Revelation, ca. Early 1830; see also Skousen, “Why Was One Sixth of the 1830 Book of Mormon Set from the Original Manuscript?,” 93–103.)
Skousen, Royal. “Why Was One Sixth of the 1830 Book of Mormon Set from the Original Manuscript?” Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture 2 (2012): 93–103.
[22]
“Mormon Leaders at Their Mecca,” New York Herald, 25 June 1893, 12. Before standard measurements of type size, names were used for sizes. “Small pica” corresponds roughly to 11-point size type. (See Pasko, American Dictionary of Printing, 521–522, as excerpted in Rummonds, Nineteenth-Century Printing Practices, 1:234.)
Pasko, Wesley Washington. American Dictionary of Printing and Bookmaking, Containing a History of These Arts in Europe and America, with Definitions of Technical Terms and Biographical Sketches. New York: Howard Lockwood, 1894. As excerpted in Richard-Gabriel Rummonds, Nineteenth-Century Printing Practices and the Iron Handpress, 2 vols. (New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 2004).
[23]
John H. Gilbert, Memorandum, 8 Sept. 1892, photocopy, CHL. Some punctuation appears to have been added in ink when Gilbert took the manuscript home for several nights to punctuate the Isaiah excerpts with the help of his King James Version of the Bible. Most of the punctuation added by Gilbert, however, was inscribed in pencil—probably in the print shop. (See Skousen, “John Gilbert’s 1892 Account,” 63–67.)
[24]
John H. Gilbert, Memorandum, 8 Sept. 1892, photocopy, CHL; see also “Mormon Leaders at Their Mecca,” New York Herald, 25 June 1893, 12.
[25]
See Skousen, “John Gilbert’s 1892 Account,” 63.
[26]
Andrew Jenson et al., “The Hill Cumorah,” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City), 11 Oct. 1888, [2].
[27]
John H. Gilbert, Palmyra, NY, to James T. Cobb, Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, 10 Feb. 1879, in Theodore Schroeder Papers . . . Relating to Mormonism; Andrew Jenson et al., “The Hill Cumorah,” Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City), 11 Oct. 1888, [2].
Gilbert, John H. Letter, Palmyra, NY, to James T. Cobb, Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, 10 Feb. 1879. Theodore Schroeder Papers: Corres., Writings and Printed Ephemera Relating to Mormonism. Microfilm. New York: New York Public Library Photographic Service, 1986. Copy at CHL.
[28]
“Cowdery held and looked over the manuscript when most of the proofs were read. Martin Harris once or twice, and Hyrum Smith once.” Gilbert further recalled that “but very little punctuation was altered in proof-reading.” (John H. Gilbert, Memorandum, 8 Sept. 1892, photocopy, CHL.)
[29]
[30]
[31]
John H. Gilbert, Memorandum, 8 Sept. 1892, photocopy, CHL; Wayne County (NY) Journal, 3 May 1883, in Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 2:545n10.
Vogel, Dan, ed. Early Mormon Documents. 5 vols. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1996–2003.
[32]
“Preface,” Book of Mormon, 1837 ed., [v].
[33]
Skousen, Printer’s Manuscript, 18.
[34]
[35]
See, for example, Cannon, Journal, 27 Feb. 1884; and Stevenson, Journal, 2 Jan. 1887.
Stevenson, Edward. Journals, 1852–1896. Edward Stevenson, Collection, 1849–1922. CHL. MS 4806, boxes 1–4.
[36]
“Book of Mormon Committee Report,” Saints’ Herald, 23 Aug. 1884, 545–548.
[37]
Skousen, Book of Mormon: The Earliest Text, 741.
Skousen, Royal, ed. The Book of Mormon: The Earliest Text. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009.
Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Title Page of Book of Mormon, circa Early June 1829
Page [i]
Hide editing marks

Title Page

Oliver Cowdery handwriting begins.
The Book of Mormon—— An account written by the hand of Mormon upon plates taken from the plates of Nephi wherefore it is an abridgment of the record of the People of Nephi & also of the Lamanites written to the Lamanites which are a remnant of the house of Israel & also to Jew & Gentile written by way of commandment & also by the spirit of Prophesy & of revelation written & sealed up & hid up unto the Lord that they might not be destroid to come forth by the gift & power of God unto the interpretation thereof sealed by the hand of Moroni & hiid hid up unto the Lord to come forth in due time by the way of Gentile the interpretation thereof by the gift of God an abridgment taken from the Book of Ether also which as <is> a record of the People of Jared which were scattered at the time the Lord confounded the language of the People when they were building a tower to get to heaven which is to shew unto the remnant of the house of Israel how great things the Lord hath done for their fathers & that they may know the covenants of the Lord that they are not cast off forever & also to the convinceing of the Jew & Gentile that Jesus is the Christ the Eternal God manifesting himself unto all Nations & now if there be fault it be the mistake of men wherefore condemn not the things of God that ye may be found spotless at the Judgment seat of Christ

—— By Joseph Smith Juniour Author & proprietor

Northen District of
New York
Located in northeast region of U.S. Area settled by Dutch traders, 1620s; later governed by Britain, 1664–1776. Admitted to U.S. as state, 1788. Population in 1810 about 1,000,000; in 1820 about 1,400,000; in 1830 about 1,900,000; and in 1840 about 2,400,...
More Info
} to wit<.>

Be it remembered that on the eleventh day of June in the fifty third year of the independance of the
United States of America
North American constitutional republic. Constitution ratified, 17 Sept. 1787. Population in 1805 about 6,000,000; in 1830 about 13,000,000; and in 1844 about 20,000,000. Louisiana Purchase, 1803, doubled size of U.S. Consisted of seventeen states at time ...
More Info
A.D 1829 Joseph Smith Junior of the sai said Destrict hath deposited in this office the title of a Book the right whereof he claims a author in the words following to wit

Tthe Book of Mormon. . &.C.—— By Joseph Smith Junor Author & propri <propriet[or]>

R R Lansing
July 1789–29 Sept. 1855. U.S. district court clerk, attorney, merchant, business executive. Born in New York. Son of Gerrit G. Lansing and Maria Antill. Resided at Utica, Oneida Co., New York, by 1812. Served as U.S. district court clerk for Northern District...
View Full Bio
Cherk of the
United States
North American constitutional republic. Constitution ratified, 17 Sept. 1787. Population in 1805 about 6,000,000; in 1830 about 13,000,000; and in 1844 about 20,000,000. Louisiana Purchase, 1803, doubled size of U.S. Consisted of seventeen states at time ...
More Info
Destrict cort for the Northren District of
New York
Located in northeast region of U.S. Area settled by Dutch traders, 1620s; later governed by Britain, 1664–1776. Admitted to U.S. as state, 1788. Population in 1810 about 1,000,000; in 1820 about 1,400,000; in 1830 about 1,900,000; and in 1840 about 2,400,...
More Info
[p. [i]]
View entire transcript
|
Cite this page
Source Note
Document Transcript
Page [i]
Document Information
Footnotes