Upon completing the original book of mormon manuscript, joseph smith asked scribe oliver cowdery to make a second copy for the typesetter. In the project we have included 20 printed editions of the book. Jan 17, 2019 since im not sure what is meant by the original book of mormon, i will answer the question with more detail than perhaps is being requested to be sure it gets answered completely. This manuscript was begun no later than april 1829 and finished in june 1829. The original manuscript of the book of mormon book of mormon.
Why didnt the book of mormon witnesses sign their testimony. Walch of deseret news reports that the manuscript is a copy of the original text dictated by joseph smith. These take the form of such things as double negatives, incorrect adverbs and adjectives, and incorrect tenses. A copy of the original was then made by oliver cowdery and two other scribes. The printers manuscript was not used fully in the typesetting of the 1830 version of book of mormon. An examination of the original manuscript reveals that joseph smith, as he translated, apparently. An introduction, the joseph smith papers history, 18381856, volume c1 addenda, the joseph smith papers manuscript found. These are the first couple of pages of the printers manuscript of the book of mormon. What im going to be talking about today is restoring the original text of the book of mormon. Evidence from the book of mormon manuscript mormonthink. The original manuscript of the book of mormon book. Typographical facsimile of the extant text provo, ut. Royal skousen is professor of english at brigham young university and since 1988 has served as the editor of the book of mormon critical text project. The original 1830 edition, book of mormon had s of errors.
The theory that sidney rigdon was the true author of the book of mormon first. The one thing that confirmed the divine authenticity of the. I think most of the time it refers to the original manuscript properom, the first draft manuscript of the book of mormon transcribed mostly by oliver cowdery. The original book of mormon transcript the book of. When asked about her belief by her son, she answered. Lds church purchases printers manuscript of book of. Ive been working on the critical text project of the book of mormon since 1988 and there are a number of works that have been published. This article is being offered free as a courtesy to as it was footnoted in an expanded. Ces letter thats because it was a printed book why would the witnesses sign the printers manuscript. Smith completed the book of mormon without retranslating the book of lehi, replacing it with what he said was an. Original book of mormon manuscript fragments could provide.
Book of mormon printers manuscript is now online church news. Several decades later, when the manuscript was pulled out, water had seeped into the cornerstone, and the manuscript had started to fall apart from the bottom up. It has no connection with the spaulding manuscript. The creation of the printers manuscript allowed the original manuscript to be kept safe while the second copy was taken to the palmyra, new york, print shop of e. Those who do not accept the book of mormon as scripture offer many theories about its origin. When oliver cowdery was making the printers manuscript of the book of mormon, he copied the text of the original book of mormon manuscript faithfully, including putting down chapter iii from the original manuscript, but couldnt find chapters 1 and. The original book of mormon transcript the book of mormon. Jun 26, 2017 it is possible that verses 1218 of words of mormon were not originally part of words of mormon, but were part of the book of mosiah. Lds church buys printers manuscript of book of mormon. The printers manuscript was eventually obtained by the community of christ, which is.
Royal skousen has spent decades studying the original manuscript and the printers manuscript of the book of mormon along with the 1830 and other editions of the book that came out during joseph smiths lifetime and under his direction and those later editions from the church of jesus christ of latterday saints and the, now, community of christ, as well. Dissatisfied liberal mormons find refuge in the community of christ. Lds church buys printers manuscript of book of mormon for. Book of mormon manuscript excerpt, circa june 1829 1 nephi 2. Smith for his loss of the manuscript, even though its loss was the best thing that could have happened for the cause of truth. The original text of the book of mormon and its publication by yale. The original book of mormon manuscript byu studies. Grandin, where it was used to set type for the first edition of the book of mormon.
The original 1830 edition, book of mormon had s of. The earliest text and his printers manuscript volumes, this book is an indispensable resource for studies of the book of mormon that rely on an accurate and original text. The original manuscript, as we have it, was produced in the spring and early summer of 1829 by scribes who wrote down joseph smiths dictation of the text. But beyond this, some surviving, badly weathered fragments of the original manuscript permit a consideration of the book of mormon from a paleographic standpoint. Church history department releases book of mormon printers. Recounting the preservation of the printers manuscript of the book.
The previous heading was the words of mormon, with no other chapters intervening. Dec 07, 2017 when the first copies of the book of mormon came off the press in march 1830, they were not based, for the most part, directly on the original manuscript written down by oliver cowdery as joseph smith dictated the text. It is the closest thing to a personal set of the gold platesin english. Jun 26, 2017 the printers manuscript of the book of mormon, he copied the text of the original book of mormon manuscript faithfully, including putting down chapter iii from the original manuscript, but couldnt find chapters 1 and 2. Most of the original manuscript was destroyed by the elements long ago, but the printers manuscript which was used for the most part to typeset the book of mormon is almost completely intact. The document is a handwritten copy of the original manuscript. Royal skousen collected and examined the existing fragments of the original manuscript of the book of mormon to produce a critical text. The original manuscript of the book of mormon book of.
He said there was a book to be published containing an account of those things. Church acquires another piece of the original book of. The study so far is yielding a deeper appreciation of the original manuscript. One of the earliest theories was that the book of mormon was based on a manuscript by solomon spaulding also spelled spalding, a fictional story about early inhabitants of america. Church acquires another piece of the original book of mormon manuscript. S since the original manuscript was written under difficult circumstances, it was not always neat.
The original was never in the hands of the printer. But it turned out, for the most part, to be from the original manuscript of the book of mormon. Scribe 1oliver cowdery scribe 2 unknown scribe 3 unknown reply to critics. The first page of the printers manuscript of the book of mormon, provided by joseph smith to the printer, e. A photograph of the original manuscript of the book of mormon which is published in the book, a new witness for christ in america, vol. Learning resources general resources the authorship of the book of mormon, byu speeches joseph smith and his papers. The spaldingrigdon theory of book of mormon authorship is the theory that the book of mormon was plagiarized in part from an unpublished manuscript. David whitmer was not aware of this commandment, or had forgotten it, and without doubt, believed that the printers copy was the original. It is enclosed by folding the casing and then by sliding it. It asks readers to understand that if there be fault in the book of mormon it be the mistake of men. A complete transcript of the extant parts of the original manuscript of the book of mormon has been published as royal skousen, ed. Spaldingrigdon theory of book of mormon authorship wikipedia. Why bother studying the textual variants in the book of mormon. Printers manuscript of the book of mormon, 1 nephi 1alma 35 royal skousen, robin scott jensen on.
Printers manuscript of the book of mormon, circa august 1829. In hebrew this same clause is expressed as if you come and i will come. This copy is called the printers manuscript p, since it was the one normally used to set the type for the first 1830 edition of the book of mormon. Foundation for ancient research and mormon studies, brigham young university, 2001. The original manuscript was used by smith to further correct errors printed in the 1830 and 1837 versions of the book of mormon for the 1840 printing of the book. I have already bought royal skousens yale edition of the book of mormon, and his original manuscript and printers manuscript of the book of mormon which are part of the book of mormon critical text project. Book of mormon manuscript excerpt, circa june 1829 1. Skousens decades if painstaking effort have provided a whole new landscape for critical study of the book of mormon. In the original text of the book of mormon, there were at least fourteen occurrences of this nonenglish expression. This second manuscript is the one that was prepared to take to the printer in 182930 to set the type. The original manuscript was in this manner carefully guarded, and the copy struck off by oliver cowdery was used in the printing of the book of mormon. The original book of mormon transcript book of mormon. Errors in grammar there are literally thousands of grammatical errors in the original edition of the book of mormon errors that gradually have been changed in later editions.
Restoring the original text of the book of mormon fairmormon. Sep 27, 2017 a page of the original manuscript of the book of mormon. Book of mormon sets new record for most expensive manuscript. The last of the plates of mormon was the title page.
The printers manuscript is a handwritten copy of the original manuscript. Book of mormon printers manuscript is now online church. The closest thing we have in existence to an original document of the testimonies of the witnesses is a printers manuscript written by oliver cowdery. To the left is a firstedition copy of the book of mormon. In this article i discuss what the original manuscript of. Every witness name except oliver cowdery on that document is not signed. Smith completed the book of mormon without retranslating the book of lehi, replacing it with what he. Title page if there be fault it be the mistake of men. The lost 116 pages were the original manuscript pages of what joseph smith, founder of the. The original manuscript of the book of mormon contains virtually no punctuation, and the scribes for the printers manuscript added very little of their own. A faded but legible page from the original book of mormon manuscript is on display at the church history museum across from temple square. Sep 22, 2017 with less than 30 percent of the original dictated book of mormon manuscript surviving to present day, the printers manuscript is seen as the most complete copy of it in existence as it is only. In 1841, joseph smith placed the original manuscript in the cornerstone of the nauvoo house, a boarding house in nauvoo, illinois.
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