In june of 1878, a tornado tore through the town of richmond, missouri. Historical statements by witnesses of the translation process also. The book of mormon is a sacred text of the latter day saint movement, which, according to adherents, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the american continent from approximately 2200 bc to ad 421. The first, called the original manuscript o, was written by at least three scribes as joseph smith translated and dictated. Sep 10, 2010 the witnesses of the book of mormon nibley, preston on. Since oliver cowdery wrote the bulk of the original manuscript, i will concentrate on him first. The original manuscript of the book of mormon book of. In june 1828, joseph smith reluctantly allowed his scribe martin harris to borrow 116 pages of the original book of mormon manuscript. Bofm witnesses presentation provides a spiritual and temporal witness of the realities of the book of mormon. All of the star archeological witnesses of the book of mormon are either flat out rejected as. Did the three witnesses each add their own signature to the original book of mormon manuscript. Many naturalists consider joseph smith to have been a firsttime novelist in 1829 as he created the book of mormon, so the lack of revisions is. The original book of mormon manuscript author dean c. Restoring the original text of the book of mormon fairmormon.
Harris promised to guard the pages and show them only to certain family members, but the pages soon disappeared and have never been recovered. The three are part of twelve book of mormon witnesses, who also include smith and. Nov 10, 2018 byu professor royal skousen, the foremost expert on the book of mormon original manuscripts, surmises the number of words in the blocks of recited text was 20 to 30. More than a decade of meticulous research revealed such insights as royal skousen prepared transcripts of the original and printers manuscripts of the book of mormon for publication. The earliest text yale university press, 2009, my task has been to recover the original englishlanguage text of the book of mormon to the extent scholarly and academic analysis will allow. Book of mormon origin if you have read the book of mormon pages preceding this book of mormon origin page translation method, bom changes, and inspired.
Church of jesus christ of latterday saintsencyclopedias. Printers manuscript of the book of mormon, circa august 1829circa. As editor of the book of mormon critical text project and the book of mormon. Book of mormon manuscript excerpt, circa june 1829 1 nephi 2. A stray ink drop and a quirk of nineteenthcentury script make the difference between retain that wrong and repair that wrong. Foundation for ancient research and mormon studies, brigham young university, 2001. In this article i discuss what the original manuscript of the book of mormon tells us about how joseph smith translated the book of mormon. She helped joseph smith retrieve the plates, participated in the translation as a scribe, and recorded her physical encounters with the covered plates. Why bother studying the textual variants in the book of mormon. Book of mormon manuscripts archives why the lds church. According to smiths account and the books narrative, the book of mormon was originally written in otherwise unknown characte. Some mormons now claim that the witnesses to the book of mormon made up the story that the translation was given wordforword to joseph smith.
The book of mormon and the manuscripts meridian magazine. Translating the book of mormon religious studies center. The witnesses of the book of mormon nibley, preston on. David whitmer, one of the witnesses to the book of mormon was living. The study so far is yielding a deeper appreciation of the original manuscript. The book of mormon has a number of original and distinctive doctrinal discussions on subjects such as the fall of adam and eve, the nature of the christian atonement, eschatology, redemption from physical and spiritual death, and the organization of the latterday church. The original book of mormon transcript book of mormon central. Royal skousen explains the significance of the original and printers manuscripts of the book of mormon. The three witnesses were oliver cowdery, martin harris, and david whitmer, whose joint testimony, in conjunction with a separate statement by eight witnesses, has been printed with every edition of the book of mormon since its first publication in 1830. The following lists are not meant to be exhaustive. Book of mormon manuscripts brigham young university.
We dont have any original signed testimony of the witnesses of the book of mormon. As book of mormon manuscript expert royal skousen explains. The first volume of skousens work, the original manuscript of the book of mormon. Smith completed the book of mormon without retranslating the book of lehi, replacing it with what he. However, i have heard that these witnesses may not have actually ever seen the gold plates that contained the original manuscripts for the book of mormon, but were witnesses in a different sort of way. All witnesses that refer to the translation of the lost 116 pages and our current book of mormon text emma smith, martin harris, and members of the whitmer family openly observed this translation processone without a curtain or blanket separating joseph from his scribe. Facsimile copy of the original manuscript of the book of mormon. The original manuscript of the book of mormon and the. Book of mormon, government and legal history in the. Royal skousen collected and examined the existing fragments of the original manuscript of the book of mormon to produce a critical text.
It asks readers to understand that if there be fault in the book of mormon it be the mistake of men. The original manuscript was written from dictation. The book of mormon and the manuscripts book of mormon facts. Upon completing the original book of mormon manuscript, joseph. History of the manuscripts of the book of mormon by shirley r. My testimony of the book of mormon, scholarly and personal. The goal of textual accuracy has led later editors to earlier editions and, when available, to the original and printers manuscripts see book of mormon manuscripts. The original manuscript remained in the possession of the prophet joseph smith and was by his own hand placed in the corner stone of the nauvoo house, october 2, 1841, in the presence of numerous witnesses. An account written by the hand of mormon upon plates taken from the plates of nephi. The book of mormon witnesses are a group of contemporaries of joseph smith who claimed to have seen the golden plates from which smith translated the book of mormon. Book of mormon spiritual and temporal witnesses presentation. Materials include a bound copy of fascimiles of pages 324 of the original manuscript of the book of mormon. The translation process of the book of mormon lds scripture. Why joseph smiths dictation of the book of mormon is.
Emma smith was far more involved in the coming forth of the book of mormon than some people may realize. I understand the book of mormon has a list of witnesses. The printed versions of the book of mormon derive from two manuscripts. So, just how many people physically saw andor touched the gold plates from which joseph smith is said to have translated the book of mormon. Peterson wrote an excellent article in which he cites witnesses to the book of mormon translation process, giving modern readers insight into what eyewitnesses saw regarding how joseph smith translated the book of mormon. The original 1830 edition, book of mormon had s of. David whitmer, one of the witnesses to the book of mormon was living in the town at the time, and had the printers manuscript of the book of mormon stored in a room of his house. Evidence from the book of mormon manuscript mormonthink.
Davids house was a large twostory, sevenroom house, and the tornado turned most of it into matchsticks. All three witnesses eventually broke with smith and were excommunicated from the church. In the remainder of this paper, i will document many of the errors in the book of mormon manuscript, which provide clear evidence that the manuscript was copied rather than dictated. Normal content editing, which involves revising and reworking parts of the text, did not occur in the original or in subsequent editions of the book of mormon. Many naturalists consider joseph smith to have been a firsttime novelist in 1829 as he created the book of mormon, so the lack of revisions is unexpected. A complete transcript of the extant parts of the original manuscript of the book of mormon has been published as royal skousen, ed. Only about 39 percent of the printers manuscript pages contain editing marks that were inserted in advance of typesetting. In this paper i discuss the work of the book of mormon critical text project and the attempt to restore and publish the original text of the book of mormon.
The most significant witnesses are the three witnesses and the eight witnesses, all of whom allowed their names to be used on two separate statements included with the book of mormon. The original manuscript of the book of mormon contains virtually no punctuation, and the scribes for the printers manuscript added very little of their own. Photocopy of the printers copy of the book of mormon. Byu professor royal skousen, the foremost expert on the book of mormon original manuscripts, surmises the number of words in the blocks of recited text was 20 to 30. Facsimile copy of the original manuscript of the book of. The last of the plates of mormon was the title page.
Cowdery then wrote out two manuscripts of the book completely by hand. The original book of mormon transcript book of mormon. She also took care of the domestic chores needed for the survival and comfort of those more actively involved in the translation. Typographical facsimile of the extant text, was published in 2001 by the foundation for ancient research and mormon studies farms. Title page if there be fault it be the mistake of men. When joseph smith translated the book of mormon in the spring of 1829, he dictated the text line by line. Typographical facsimile of the extant text provo, ut. A pastor who lived near cowdery, ethan smith, had written view of the hebrews, another work that has been posited as a source for the book of mormon. The original book of mormon manuscript byu studies.
Yale university press holds the rights to reproduce this text. The yale edition of the book of mormon contains several hundred readings that have never appeared in any previous editions, including 216 that were found only in the original manuscript, 187 from the printers manuscript where the original is not extant, and 88 that were in both the original and printers manuscripts. Two major goals of each published edition of the book of mormon have been 1 to faithfully reproduce the text. Though we have a small part of the original documents, the majority of it is gone. Nov 30, 2017 according to religion professors amy eastonflake and rachel cope, emma smith was arguably more intimately involved in the coming forth of the book of mormon than any person besides joseph. Smiths mother, lucy, said that harris asked joseph for a look at the plates, for a further witness of their actual existence. Five of the scribesoliver cowdery, martin harris, john whitmer, christian whitmer, and samuel smithalso gave their testimonies as witnesses of the book of. In 1986, while preparing the text for first nephi of the study book of mormon project, zarahemla research foundation began a wordforword comparison of the original and printers manuscripts with the. Printers manuscript of the book of mormon, circa august 1829circa january.
The printers manuscript of the book of mormon, published in the. The most common belief of adherents is that promoted by joseph smith, who said he translated ancient golden plates inscribed by prophets. It was first published in march 1830 by joseph smith as the book of mormon. There is also evidence for letter for letter control over the spelling of book of mormon names. One of joseph smiths early revelations affirmed similarly that humans cannot see god with their natural eyes without.
Most adherents to the latter day saint movement view the book as a work of inspired scripture. Book of mormon manuscript excerpt, circa june 1829 1. Royal skousen has spent decades studying the original manuscript and the printers manuscript of the book of mormon along with the 1830 and other editions of the book that came out during joseph smiths lifetime and under his direction and those later editions from the church of jesus christ of latterday saints and the, now, community of christ, as well. Why joseph smiths dictation of the book of mormon is simply. Printers manuscript of the book of mormon, circa august.
Book of mormon manuscripts the encyclopedia of mormonism. Jessee this article is being offered free as a courtesy to lds. Oliver cowdery was a thirdcousin of lucy mack smith, joseph smiths mother. The original manuscript of the book of mormon contains virtually no punctuation, and the scribes for the printers manuscript added very. Scribe 1oliver cowdery scribe 2 unknown scribe 3 unknown reply to critics. Copy made from the original book of mormon manuscript by oliver cowdery, for use by the typesetter for the first printing of the book of mormon 1830. The three witnesses is the collective name for three men connected with the early latter day. Book of mormon editions 18301981 the encyclopedia of.
Grandin printed the book of mormon in 1830 from this second copy. These pages include what is now 1 nephi, chapter 2, verse 2 through 1 nephi, chapter, verse 35. An examination of the original manuscript reveals that joseph smith, as he translated, apparently. The lost 116 pages were the original manuscript pages of what joseph smith, founder of the. The original book of mormon transcript the book of mormon. There are several theories as to the origin of the book of mormon. Gardner earned a masters degree in anthropology and mesoamerican ethnohistory from the state university of new york at albany. David whitmer, then age 73 and one of the three witnesses of the book of mormon, was. Book of mormonwitnessessignatures on their testimonies. The hill cumorah in october 1841, joseph placed the original manuscript in the southeast cornerstone of the nauvoo house, a place appointed by revelation for lodging visitors. But beyond this, some surviving, badly weathered fragments of the original manuscript permit a consideration of the book of mormon from a. In 2001 he published the first two volumes of the critical text project, namely typographical facsimiles for the original and printers manuscripts of the book of mormon. Yet the original 1839 book of mormon was full of all kinds of errors.
Five of the scribesoliver cowdery, martin harris, john whitmer, christian whitmer, and samuel smithalso gave their testimonies as witnesses of the book of mormon. Printers manuscript of the book of mormon, circa august 1829. More than a decade of meticulous research revealed such insights as royal skousen prepared transcripts of the original and printers manuscripts. Book of mormon original manuscript 1829 church history. The text of the yale edition of the book of mormon. Dec 07, 2017 in june of 1878, a tornado tore through the town of richmond, missouri. And we can find clear evidence of this spelling out of names in the original manuscript. Recounting the preservation of the printers manuscript of the book. From 2004 through 2009 he published the six books that make up volume 4 of the critical text, analysis of textual variants of the book of mormon.
The witnesses of the translation process indicated that whenever the scribe had difficulty in spelling a name correctly, joseph smith would spell it out for him. Cowdery served as scribe during the transcription of the book of mormon, and was one of the three witnesses to the golden plates. Jul 16, 2015 royal skousen explains the significance of the original and printers manuscripts of the book of mormon. The original book of mormon transcript the book of. How did emma smith help bring forth the book of mormon. Aug 18, 2009 this segment depicts the coming forth of the book of mormon and the testimony to its veracity by the three witnesses. What became of the original manuscript of the book of mormon. Book of mormon manuscripts archives why the lds church is true. Analytical and contextual commentary on the book of mormon and the gift and power. This segment depicts the coming forth of the book of mormon and the testimony to its veracity by the three witnesses.
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