First edition of Book of Mormon to be auctioned with advance bid of $100,000

A nearly two-century-old copy of the Book of Mormon, held quietly in a Utah family’s safe-deposit box for almost 40 years, is about to go under the hammer with expectations that it could sell for more than $150,000.

The 1830 volume — part of the first printing of the scripture central to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — has been consigned to Potter & Potter Auctions, a Chicago-based firm specializing in rare books and historical objects. The auction house has already logged an advance bid of $100,000 ahead of live bidding, scheduled to begin Sept. 4.

Richard Hatch, a Logan-based magician and music educator, said the book has been in his family for decades. His grandfather, J. Eastman Hatch, an insurance executive, likely bought it in the 1950s from Sam Weller’s bookstore in Salt Lake City for $150 — a substantial sum for that era. The elder Hatch’s wife, Florence Nibley Hatch, was the daughter of Charles W. Nibley, who served in the LDS First Presidency in the early 20th century and for whom the Cache Valley town of Nibley is named.

After the recent death of their mother, Richard Hatch and his siblings decided it was time to part with the book.

While the Book of Mormon is freely available today — the church distributes millions of copies worldwide — first editions occupy a distinctive place in Latter-day Saint history. The 1830 printing of 5,000 copies was the only edition to include Joseph Smith’s preface describing the loss of 116 pages of early translation. Scholars estimate a few hundred of those volumes still survive.

Though not considered rare in the strictest sense of book collecting, first editions of the Book of Mormon carry unique cultural and spiritual weight for Latter-day Saints. Collectors have paid increasingly high sums for them in recent years. In 2024, a copy sold at auction in New York City for $185,000, more than double its presale estimate.

Other early Latter-day Saint works are far scarcer. The Book of Commandments, an 1833 collection of revelations, exists in only a handful of copies, with fewer than 30 known to survive. Some have sold privately for millions.

The Book of Mormon, however, remains the most recognizable publication of the faith, and its first edition continues to be regarded as the centerpiece of Mormon book collecting. Beyond its religious importance, some literary scholars have also called it one of the most significant works of American literature, ranking it among the nation’s enduring contributions to 19th-century literary culture.