LDS Church Purchase Printer’s Manuscript of Book of Mormon from Community of Christ for $35 Million

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, recently acquired the printer’s manuscript of the Book of Mormon from the Community of Christ in Independence, Missouri. Latter-day Saints revere the Book of Mormon as the keystone of their faith, a book of scripture that witnesses of Jesus Christ like the Bible.

​Elder Steven E. Snow, Church Historian and Recorder, said: “We hold the Book of Mormon to be a sacred text like the Bible. The printer’s manuscript is the earliest surviving copy of about 72 percent of the Book of Mormon text, as only about 28 percent of the earlier dictation copy survived decades of storage in a cornerstone in Nauvoo, Illinois.”

Elder Snow expressed gratitude for the care taken of the manuscript by the Community of Christ for more than a century. He also offered appreciation to the generous donors who provided the means to acquire this treasure for the Church.

The entire printer’s manuscript was published in 2015 as part of the Joseph Smith Papers Project. It can be found in Volume Three of the Revelations and Translations series. Eventually, digital images of the entire manuscript will be posted online at josephsmithpapers.org.

Plans are currently under way to display the manuscript to the public at the Church History Library in the coming months.

News released by Mormon Newsroom