History of the printing press book of mormon

Understanding the process of publishing the book of mormon. Printing and publishing the book of mormon, church history topics. The replica press is found at the crandall printing museum in provo, utah. Beyond biography fairleigh dickinson university press mormon studies series by rachel cope, amy eastonflake, et al. What was it like to print the original book of mormon in 1830. Here wellknown historians describe their journeys of writing books that have influenced our understanding of the mormon past, offering an unprecedented glimpse into why they wrote these important works. The book of mormon has attracted significant attention since its first printing in 1830. But few church members know the full story behind the first printing. 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. Wilson, religious studies center late in march 1830, a notice in the palmyra, new york, newspaper appeared announcing the recent publication of the book of mormon.

The book of mormon printing miracle its about time. One would ink the type and pull the printing lever while the other would put the paper in place on the type, and then lift it off to dry somewhere. Finally, an exact duplicate of the famous acorn press from palmyra, new york, that printed the book of mormon was commissioned. Printing the book of mormon crandall historical printing. 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. Video of the first printing of the book of mormon for the crandall historical printing museum by daniel smith. The printing press is a device that allows for the mass production of uniform printed matter, mainly text in the form of books, pamphlets and newspapers.

The original smith press used by grandin is in the church history museum in. Steve, in order to understand the destruction of nauvoo expositor press and why things happened the way they did, you need to understand the context. The lamanites continued and are known as the american indians. Read more about the history of the printing press and the book of mormon. Book of mormon historic publishing site grandin building. Book of mormon printing press hd lds mormon church history. Using funds from donors, the lds church purchased the manuscript. The fact that antimormons today defend this disgusting newspaper shows that not much has changed.

The book of mormon is a sacred text of the latter day saint movement that adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on. 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. It is alright when a mob destroys a mormon printing press, but when those mormons start thinking that missouis genocide was unjust and that mormons are people instead of demons, well then its time to gather up the lynch mob and teach them a. The press on which the book of mormon was printed clearly required two men to operate efficiently, with each doing one of those functions.

The sacred book of scripture shed light on a darkened world. Rather than go into full detail, ill list each of the. After the publication of the book of mormon, mormonism began to grow. Hyrum smith is led by the spirit to go to the press on the sabbath. Joseph smiths negotiations to publish the book of mormon. To print the book, grandin used a smith improved printing press invented by peter. Book of mormon historic publication site wikipedia. Printing the book of mormon crandall historical printing museum. John gilberts 1892 account of the 1830 printing of the. These amazing machines and artifacts will be his lasting legacy for all to enjoy. Revised and enhanced history of joseph smith by his mother chapter 32 by lucy mack smith. For example, the prophet joseph smiths history of the church passes over the printing in one phrase. The printing of the book of mormon was truly a miracle. Later, an angel visits joseph and calls him to be a prophet and to translate the book of mormon from golden plates of ancient origins.

In the museum exhibit case, next to the original manuscript page, is an uncut proof sheet from the first printing of the book of mormon, which includes the title page. Solomon chamberlain of lyons, new york, was accompanied to the print shop by hyrum smith, who handed him 64 pages from the new volume chamberlain. We set a full16 pages of the book and then printed all day and here is a video clip of our findings. Weight, who died in 2004 at the age of 72, is another case in point.

Though tompkins was paid to print 5,000 copies of the book, only 4,050 were produced. Scriptural scholars estimate the gutenberg press, betterknown as the common press, could print approximately 200 sheets per hour, equating to about 3. Crandall historical printing museum senior docent jim watkins demonstrates how the first edition of the book of mormon was printed using an early 19thcentury printing press during a tour on january 26, 2017. 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. Hadleys anger resulted in his printing of a detailed diatribe against the anticipated publication of the book of mormon, providing the earliest known published account of the visitation of an angel to joseph smith, the finding of the plates and the seer stones, and the. Why were the printing presses of the nauvoo expositor. He and oliver cowdery discover abner cole pilfering the book of mormon, publishing it in a series in his small newspaper. The book of mormon historic publication site in palmyra, new york, is the place where the first copies of the book of mormon were printed and bound in 1829 and 1830.

Book of mormon printing history showcased in storied provo. Go behind the printing of the first edition of the book of mormon. Grandin building and the original printing of the book of. Beautiful working replica of the original eb grandin acorn printing press that was used to print the first book of mormon. In february 1841, the first copies of the 1841 edition of the book of mormon were completed and the was secured on february 8, 1841. Why did joseph smith have the offices of the nauvoo expositor ransacked and the printing press destroyed and thrown into the middle of the street. Egbert bratt grandin march 30, 1806 april 16, 1845 was a printer in palmyra, new york, best known for publishing the first edition of the book of mormon. Now held at the church history library, the printers manuscript gives unique insight. The book of mormon is the account of the nephite leader, mormon, concerning their culture, civilization, and appearance of jesus to the americas.

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. The book of mormon and the growth of printing in america. To print the book, grandin used a smith improved printing press, which had first appeared on the market about 1821 and was the most uptodate press available to the small printer of the day. He wrote the booklet, miracle on palmyras main street, the year before he died. The book of mormon and the growth of printing in america objectives. A documentary history of the book of mormon byu studies. The authenticity of the english common press used by benjamin franklin was carried on using blueprints from the smithsonian. The incredible story of the first printing of the book of. Their plan for a first printing of 5,000 copies of the book of mormon was.

Mormons believe that the book of mormon confirms information found in the holy bible. Tracing the development of the printing press, by keith j. Crandall created the crandall historical printing museum in provo, utah, with. Marsh of charleston, massachusetts, visited the grandin printing office that fall and was given copies of the first 16 pages of the book of mormon history of thos. Lds church buys printers manuscript of book of mormon for. One of the bigger errors occurred on the title page, which includes the preface written by moroni. The text gives an account of ancient prophets who lived. Writing mormon history is a mustread for historians, students of history, scholars, and aspiring.

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 in the lds church history museum in salt lake city, utah. Better understand the expansive growth of printing in early nineteenthcentury america and how that affected society. The story of the creation of the book of mormon has been told many times, and often ridiculed. It is also known as the grandin building, after egbert b. Grandin, who owned and operated a printshop in the building. The earlier loss of 116 pages of the book of mormon manuscript together with rising antagonism in the palmyra area persuaded. Whilst the book of mormon was in the hands of the printer, we still continued to bear testimony. He sees god the father and jesus christ in the first vision in 1820. Joseph smith and the book of mormon 18051831 joseph smith is born and raised in new england. In august 1829, harris signed over the mortgage to grandin, and production of the book of mormon began.

Most relevant to morriss documentary history is this books lengthy narrative chapter about the coming forth of the book of mormon. Understand the creation and publication of an important american religious text, the. Joseph smith and martin harris visited several printers about the project. Provo museum preserves printing history of the book of mormon.

Adherents to the mormon faith have revered it, critics have questioned its authenticity and scholars have approached it from multiple disciplines, such as literature, anthropology and archeology. The manpower, the paper, ink, ink balls and hours of work. The original grandin printing press, now sitting in the museum of church history and art in salt lake city, was used to print the first copies of the book of mormon in 1830. But the better procedure is to test this statement against what we have been able to discover about the printing of the first edition of the book of mormon. Opening the heavens makes use of 206 documents to tell the timing of the translation of the book of mormon and then presents relevant parts of each of those documents in a lengthy appendix. A documentary history of the book of mormon presents and examines the primary sources surrounding the origin of the foundational text of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints, the most successful new religion of modern times. The scores of documents transcribed and annotated in this book. Thus, mcauley and bortles did the balance of the press work until the work was. Today this historic site is open to the public yearround. Explore the connections in this period between religion and print culture. Grandins printing press and bookshop was located in the western most building of a complex. Printing a book as large and as expensive as the book of mormon would demand expertise and an investment in new printing type and supplies. A printing history of the book of mormon mormon historic sites. The wonderful crandall historical printing museum in provo, utah, undertook in january 20 to reenact the original printing of the book of mormon.