W. W. Phelps' first edition Book of Mormon

Here's a great story about a first edition Book of Mormon that I just acquired.  http://www.ldsliving.com/W-W-Phelps-1830-Book-of-Mormon-And-Family-Bible-Acquired-By-Rare-Book-Collector/s/89131

SEVEN first edition copies of the BOOK OF MORMON [1830] on display in Provo this weekend!

This Saturday (June 24, 2015) there will be seven copies of the first edition Book of Mormon [1830] on display at Zion's Mercantile at The Shops at Riverwoods (4801 North University Avenue, Provo, UT 84604).  Reid Moon, with Moon's Rare Books, will have these books on display for the public.  Bring your whole family! Mr. Moon will also be doing free appraisals on any old books, letters, documents, photographs or artifacts that are brought in to the store this Saturday from 10:00 am - 6:00 pm.  For more details go to: www.moonsrarebooks.com

The first edition BOOK OF MORMON has a unique characteristic--a "diamond-shaped" imprint on the title page.  This appears to have happened at some stage during the bookbinding process at the E. B. Grandin press in Palmyra, New York.  The indention made by this imprint is so strong that it often passes through the first hundred or so pages the book.   This "diamond" shape varies slightly in size, shape and position on the title page.  In fact, the positioning of the diamond on the title page was one of the clues that helped me identify a stolen first edition Book of Mormon title page two years ago. http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2012/06/dallas_book_dealer_cracks_case.php

Brigham Young gave this First Edition [European] BOOK OF MORMON to Helen Mar Kimball when she was 13 years old.

First European Edition of the Book of Mormon [1841]. The story behind my new acquisition. 

This past weekend I enjoyed reading Holzapfel's "A Woman's View: Helen Mar [Kimball] Whitney's Reminiscences of Early Church History". In this book, Helen recounts, "The Prophet Joseph Smith and two or three brethren called at our house to hear a letter read from father [Heber C. Kimball]. Joseph, who stood by the bureau, where a couple of china dolls were standing on two large salt cellars (which had been sent from England to my mother [Vilate]) picked one of the dolls up to look at, but in replacing it sat it upon one side--and it fell, breaking the doll's head off. He then merely remarked: "As that has fallen, so shall the heathen gods fall." I stood there a silent observer, unable to understand or appreciate the prophetic words, but thought them a rather weak apology for breaking my doll's head off. My mother afterwards mended it, and though like most of us it shows signs of age, and that it has passed through many ordeals, yet I have kept it, with two or three other little tokens which I received from England....Including a Book of Mormon. My brother William and I received each a beautifully bound BOOK OF MORMON from "Uncle" Brigham Young, with our names printed upon the back in gilt letters...I have read mine through by course more times than any other book I ever saw, and each time it has proved more interesting; I was never more deeply fascinated by a novel than I have been with the Book of Mormon. I've attached two photographs of Helen Mar Kimball's 1841 copy of the Book of Mormon. Earlier this week I got a phone call asking if I was interested in acquiring it....Well, needless to say, I was on a plane 12 hours later. I now own this beautiful book--along
with it's enlightening story.....http://www.pinterest.com/pin/164662930100586877/

One of the "25 finest surviving copies" of the  First Edition BOOK OF MORMON [1830] 

In 1829, Joseph Smith made plans to print the Book of Mormon.  He contacted a local newspaper publisher and bookstore owner in Palmyra, New York named E. B. Grandin.  Mr. Grandin agreed to print 5,000 copies for $3,000.  Martin Harris, a friend of Joseph Smith,  mortgaged his farm to acquire the funds for the printing of the Book of Mormon.

The 1830 first edition Book of Mormon was originally bound in brown calf, plain except for the seven double bands in gilt on the spine with a black leather label stamped in gilt with "BOOK OF MORMON". The end sheets are of the same paper as the text.  The copyright notice appears on the verso of the title page.  A preface (pp. [iii]-iv) explains the loss of the initial 116 pages of manuscript and the revelation of Joseph Smith not to retranslate that part but to begin with the plates of Nephi.  Only the 1830 edition has this preface.  Pages 5-588 contain the main text, and the testimonies of the three and of the eight witnesses occur on both sides of the leaf following page 588.  (Crawley, A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church, Vol. 1 pg. 31)

This is one of the finest first edition copies of the Book of Mormon to come on the market in many years.  Of the original 5,000 copies, as few as 500 have survived.  I have seen over 150 of these surviving copies.  Based on the vast number of copies that I have seen and handled,  I would say that this copy, which rates a solid "9" on a "1-10" scale, is easily one of the 25 finest surviving copies in the world.  

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Exceptional-FIRST-EDITION-Book-of-Mormon-Palmyra-1830-Joseph-Smith-/291085982546?pt=Antiquarian_Collectible&hash=item43c6139b52

I'm often asked,  "Why do people sell their first edition copies of the Book of Mormon to you?"  Although there are a variety of reasons, the most common is for financial reasons.   In a generation, this iconic book has increased in value from $100 in the 1960s, to $5,000 in the 1980s; and now a copy was appraised for $100,000 on the "Antiques Roadshow": http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865593827/1830-first-edition-Book-of-Mormon-appraised-for-100000.html  and I've  just listed another copy on eBay for $79,995: http://www.ebay.com/itm/291060578422?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

This month I have purchased three new copies of the FIRST EDITION BOOK OF MORMON--and hope to acquire another copy this weekend in California.  If you have an interest in buying, selling or having a copy appraised, please contact me: www.moonsrarebooks.com

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It's been a busy week already.  I've traveled 1,800 miles and tracked down two copies of the first edition Book of Mormon [1830].  You never know what type of condition these books will be in.  I've attached a photo to compare the two copies.  On a "1-10" scale, the copy on the left would rate a "3" and the copy on the right a "7".  I've just added several new photos to my Pinterest page that highlights the first edition Book of Mormon. http://www.pinterest.com/moonsrarebooks/first-edition-book-of-mormon-1830-pinterest/

New video on collecting rare Mormon books posted to YouTube.

I just posted a new video to my YouTube Channel.  This video talks about the first edition Doctrine and Covenants which was printed in 1835--five years after the first edition Book of Mormon.  For every ten surviving copies of the first edition Book of Mormon, there is only one surviving copy of the original Doctrine and Covenants. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nYHcOH5hok

Besides the first edition Book of Mormon, there were four other editions printed during the life of Joseph Smith: the second edition in Kirtland [1837], the third edition in Nauvoo [1840], the first European in Liverpool [1841l] and the fifth edition in Nauvoo [1842]. The copies shown (1837, 40, 41, 42) are some of the finest surviving copies in the world. 
www.moonsrarebooks.com    http://www.pinterest.com/pin/164662930099971652/