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

The first edition BOOK OF MORMON was printed in 1830.  It is interesting to note that after 1830, for the next 58 years, all subsequent editions of the Book of Mormon would be printed in a smaller size and font. I recently acquired Helen Mar Kimball's 1841 copy of the Book of Mormon--which was given to her when she was thirteen years old by "uncle" Brigham Young.  Helen is the daughter of Mormon apostle Heber C. Kimball.

In her journal she made reference to the smaller-sized print, "There is but one fault I find with it--the print is so fine that many times I have been forced to stop reading it; and this, I believe, prevents many from reading it who otherwise would, as some who are not of our faith but are friendly to this people, have mentioned this to me, and said it was the only reason why they did not read it.  This I think is a great pity.".

In the photograph I show several editions, side by side, with the first edition Book of Mormon on the left, and the 1888 pulpit edition on the right. From left to right, these copies of the Book of Mormon were printed in 1830, 1840, 1841, 1852, 1885 and 1888.  The photo below is from Helen Mar Kimball's own Book of Mormon.

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 just posted several new photos on my Pinterest page about the "First Edition Book of Mormon".http://www.pinterest.com/moonsrarebooks/first-edition-book-of-mormon-1830-pinterest/
I just acquired a very rare "red label" first edition Book of Mormon.  Most copies (around 97%) have a black label.  About 2% have a tan or brown label.  And only a few have the red label.

This is a very valuable and rare stack of books: (6) first edition copies of the Book of Mormon [1830], a first edition Doctrine and Covenants [1835]--which is worth at least twice as much as a first edition Book of Mormon; and the extremely rare Messenger and Advocate [1834-36] which is worth more even more than the first edition Doctrine and Covenants. http://www.pinterest.com/pin/164662930100172598/

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