The Book of Mormon
Kirtland, Ohio, 1837
MORMON CHURCH – SMITH JR, Joseph (1805-1844). The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon, Upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi. Kirtland, OH: Printed by O. Cowdery & Co. for P.P. Pratt & J. Goodson, 1837.

Marion Huntington's copy of the updated second edition Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is Joseph Smith's translation of the golden tablets revealed to him by the angel Moroni on the hill of Cumorah near Manchester, New York. The first edition of The Book of Mormon appeared in 1830, only two weeks before the formal founding of the Church of Latter-Day Saints on 6 April 1830. Discussions of a second edition began only a few years later, and in preparation, Smith and fellow LDS father Oliver Cowdery set out carefully comparing the first edition to the original manuscripts. They would make over 3000 changes to the 1830 edition, most of them minor modifications to grammar and style, with many focused on converting upstate New York dialect to standard English. Although the preface to this edition states that 5000 copies were printed, a Kirtland typesetter recalled it being only 3000 and this figure is usually accepted as accurate. (See David J. Whitaker "The Most Important of All Books: A Printing History of The Book of Mormon, Mormon Historical Studies, Fall 2005.) The book itself is also of a smaller size than the first edition, likely at Joseph Smith's request so that missionaries would have an easier time carrying it on their journeys.

12mo (145 x 82mm). Contemporary sheep (scuffed, morocco label very rubbed). (Some foxing internally). Provenance: Marion Prentice Huntington, daughter of Henry E. Huntington – PBA Galleries, 15 October 1998, lot 306.