Set deep in the woods of Central New York, RICK GRUNDER - BOOKS is not a walk-in store, but an original source for the origins of Mormonism. Think of this as a safe retreat in a fertile forest where words like "rare" and "fine" are used with discrimination and hopeful expertise. As the first Chairman of the Brigham Young University Library Bibliographic Department until 1981, then an antiquarian bookseller for a third of a century, I have worked full-time as a specialist in this field for nearly forty years.  I am located an hour's drive from both Palmyra, New York, and Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, places where Mormonism began. In a setting such as this, amazing things can happen.

CULTURES ARE LIKE STREAMS, flowing from countless trickles and springs. There are sources everywhere. Tracing these origins is slow work. The way is often hard and slippery, but the rewards are amazing.

For a third of a century, I have pursued Mormon parallels in the most unexpected places, and have exclaimed aloud in frequent surprise. MORMON PARALLELS: A Bibliographic Source was first published as an expensive signed limited edition in 2008.  It is NOW AVAILABLE in an affordable trade version, unabridged, with added index and other matter.  Scholars are saying . . .

What scholars are saying about this pdf resource—

 

—  simply amazing, informative and so very well-written. —David Newell, Shaker Bibliographer and Bookseller, Ashfield, Massachusetts.

 

—  This bibliography is groundbreaking!  Your work on this aspect of American religion has been invaluable to me.  —Paul Gutjahr, author of An American Bible: A History of the Good Book in the United States, 1777-1880 and The Book of Mormon: A Biography.  Chairman, Department of English, Indiana University

 

—  a monumental, meticulously-crafted study shedding light on the origins of Mormonism. . . .  Later generations as well as today's readers and researchers will applaud it.  —William P. MacKinnon, author of At Sword's Point: A Documentary History of the Utah War of 1857-1858; former Vice-President of General Motors in charge of Personnel Administration & Development;  President, Mormon History Association, 2010-2011.

 

—  an incredible, revelatory work!  I can't imagine early Mormon historical studies ever being the same again.  —Gary James Bergera, author/editor of The Autobiography of B. H. Roberts;  Brigham Young University: A House of Faith and The Nauvoo Endowment Companies 1845-46: A Documentary History.  Managing Director, The Smith-Pettit Foundation, Salt Lake City.

 

—  a treasure trove of primary sources for historians who are focused on early American history and the beginnings of Mormonism.  It was indispensable in my research concerning the connections between Masonry and Mormonism.  —Michael W. Homer, author of On the Way to Somewhere Else: European Sojourners in the Mormon West, 1834-1930 and Joseph’s Temples: The Dynamic Relationship between Freemasonry and Mormonism.  Attorney & Managing Partner, Suitter Axland, PLLC, Salt Lake City.

 

—  an asset to scholars and an excellent example to others of how such a work should be.  —Mary Jo Lanphear, Ontario County, New York Assistant Records Management Officer (1992–2011);  Historian, town of Brighton, New York, 1986–

 

—  a beautiful work in every sense and a model for bibliographies in digital format.  —James Green, Librarian, The Library Company of Philadelphia (founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1731)

 

—  This is parallels study at the highest level: brutal honesty with no cherry-picking.  The ripples on the pond of Mormon studies created by this work will radiate outward for decades to come.  —Gregory A. Prince, author of David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism and Power From on High: the Development of Mormon Priesthood.  Ph.D. (Pathology);  co-founder and CEO, Virion Systems, Inc.

 

IMAGE at the top of this page shows the bottom corner of my property in Lafayette, New York.  Across the creek begins the "Mason Hill" preserve of the Central New York Land Trust, a forever-green ninety-acre wood accessed by a ninety-foot, pedestrian suspension bridge hanging high over the stone creek bed.  The property line runs, according to the language of my deed, ". . . along the center line of said main stream as it winds and turns 430 feet more or less . . ."