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(MORMONS.) The Book of Mormon. First Edition. Palmyra, 1830
(MORMONS.) The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon, upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi. 8vo, original calf, scuffed and worn at extremities, backstrip blind-tooled in seven double bands in gilt, black leather spine label worn, slight chipping at base of backstrip, joints strong; front hinge just starting at top, scattered foxing and browning, minor soiling on title page, 3 small worm holes on rear pastedown; signature of early owner J.A. Tebbet on front free endpaper. Palmyra, NY: E. B. Grandin, 1830
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Notes: first edition of the scripture of the mormon church, released just days before the official establishment of the church on 6 April 1830. This was the only edition listing Joseph Smith as the "author and proprietor" rather than as the translator, and the only edition with his 2-page preface.
The first edition was printed with numerous variants; Crawley concludes that "very few copies of the book exist which are entirely identical." No priority of these states has been determined, and of 70 copies surveyed by Jenson, 60 were determined to be unique. This copy includes the uncorrected sheets for 5 of the 41 variants noted in Jenson: page iv is misprinted as "vi"; page 74 reads "he name of your God"; page 212 is misprinted as "122"; the word "brethrren" appears on page 341; page 521 reads "rum-derers" for "murderers." See Janet Jenson, "Variations between Copies of the First Edition of the Book of Mormon," BYU Studies 13 (Winter 73), 214-222. This copy has the 2 pages of witness testimony at the end, but not the index pages which were inserted on later copies. Crawley 1; Flake 595; Grolier Hundred 37; Howes S623; Sabin 83038; Streeter sale IV:2262.
This copy was found by the consignor among books received from his grandmother in Acton, ME in 1945. It may have previously belonged to the grandmother''s adoptive mother Emma J. Clapham, who was born in New York circa 1857. None of the family were known to have been Mormons. one of the nicer copies to appear in recent years, in its original state with no tears or major faults. -
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