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In these times, when a first edition Book of Mormon costs as much as a small house, it is nice to know that a person of more ordinary means can still obtain and preserve at least one interesting remnant from the first "Mormon" book! . . .
AN AUTHENTIC FIRST-EDITION BOOK OF MORMON LEAF, as originally printed in single columns without verse numbers by E. B. Grandin "for the Author" at Palmyra, New York. Printed sometime between later 1829 and the beginning of 1830.
ONE LEAF (two pages, counting the front and back), 18 X 11 cm. (7 inches tall). Pages 171-2, containing what is now Mosiah 7:26 - 8:12 (plus large portions of the immediately preceding and following verses, Mosiah 7:25 and 8:13).
Evidently washed/deacidified and slightly trimmed: clean and presentable. A few faint stains remind us that this artifact is more than 170 years old, and faint underlining still highlights an important doctrinal passage which fascinated some reader generations ago (see below). Encapsulated between sheets of archival acetate (as if in a clear plastic envelope sealed on all sides: can be removed easily simply by cutting one plastic edge and slipping the page out).
**SOLD** (February 2002, eBay item 1066671386). with shipping: $413.00
RATHER A SPECIAL LEAF, containing on page 172 the first mention of the lost race of the Jaredites and the discovery of the twenty-four gold plates containing their history . . .
At the end of this leaf, ". . . Ammon saith unto him, I can assuredly tell thee, O king, of a man that can translate the records: for he hath wherewith that he can look, and translate all records that are of ancient date; and it is a gift from God." The result, of course, would be the Book of Ether.
ON THE FRONT OF THIS LEAF is something quite different, but equally interesting and important, relating to the nature of deity. While Latter-day Saints today are accustomed to an absolute distinction between the Father and the Son, historians know that this doctrine was not so clearly defined in the earliest years of the Church. (For example, in the first edition of the Book of Mormon, Nephi beheld a vision of Mary, "bearing a child in her arms. And the angel said unto me, behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Eternal Father!"- p.25 in 1830, 1 Nephi 11:21 in modern times, changed to read, "even the Son of the Eternal Father!") Much has been written on this subject, and energetic doctrinal explanations may be found. Sidney B. Sperry devoted an entire chapter to this discussion, heroically calling up every resource of his scholarly mind to explain fine distinctions of spiritual Fatherhood and stewardship, concluding, "Thus we see that Abinadi's teachings are in perfect harmony with the prophet Joseph Smith's instructions concerning the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." (Answers to Book of Mormon Questions; (Formerly[,] Problems of the Book of Mormon) [SLC: Bookcraft, 1967], p. 38). If the matter were so clear as some might wish, of course, LDS scholars might not have worked so hard over the years to explain the problem. It is easy to see whence it might arise, if an ordinary reader were to take at face value the plain teachings of Abinadi quoted on this original 1830 page . . .
This passage may now be found in Mosiah 7:26-8.
