Title

The spine shows the title as Book of Mormon. The title page shows the full title as The Book of Mormon: an Account written by the hand of Mormon, upon plates taken from the plates of Nephi.

Author

Joseph Smith, Jr., the author and proprietor of the Book of Mormon, grew up in upstate New York in the early 1800s. During this time there was an increase in religious excitement that propelled a teenage Smith to know more about God and religion for himself. In his quest for spiritual truth he received heavenly visions and angelic ministrations that led him to being called by God as a modern-day prophet and restorer of Jesus Christ’s ancient church. This church is known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Along with the Bible, the Book of Mormon is considered Holy Scripture by members of the church.

Context

While Joseph Smith Jr. is listed as the author and proprietor of the work, the Book of Mormon itself claims to be the printed translation of writings by ancient prophets who lived in the americas hundreds of years previously. It is a religious text. While the Bible is about people living in southwest Asia (Israel and the surrounding area), writings in the Book of Mormon detail the account of two main civilizations who inhabited the american continent in ancient times (beginning in about 600 BC spanning to about 421 AD). Mormon was the chief complier of the record. He abridged and quoted the writings of ancient prophets that were engraved on plates of gold. His son, Moroni, finished the record and stored it in the Hill Cumorah (a drumlin in the Manchester, New York area). After a series of angelic ministrations by Moroni, Joseph Smith was shown where to find these plates for translation into English.

Printers and or publisher

E. B. Grandin is listed as the printer at the bottom of the book’s title page and was also the publisher. He was a young printer when the Book of Mormon was published. He purchased a printing office in 1827, printed a newspaper (the Wayne Sentinel), and ran a book lending library. He agreed to print 5,000 copies of the Book of Mormon at a cost of $3000 which would have been a large number of copies for a first edition book (Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic The Scarlet Letter only printed 2,500 copies).

The book’s chief compositor was John H. Gilbert with help from William Van Camp. Daniel Hendrix worked as a proofreader and typesetter. The printer’s manuscript, (that was used to set the type for the book), didn’t include punctuation and capitalization. Gilbert took it upon himself to add punctuation and capitalization where appropriate. The book was printed on a Smith Improved Printing Press. The press room foreman was Pomeroy Tucker. Under Tucker was a team of printers and apprentices. J. N. T. Tucker, Jacob H. Bortles, and Thomas McAuley were some of those who helped operate the press.

Place of publication

The Book of Mormon was printed in Palmyra, New York. The first newspaper in Palmyra, the Palmyra Register, was printed in 1817. This newspaper provided a form of communication in the town that was previously unavailable. The town also experienced population growth due to access to the Erie Canal that was being built in the early 1800s. Palmyra was also part of a religious revival that spread from the New England area. Various religious parties competed for converts. In this environment Joseph Smith worked on publishing the Book of Mormon.

Title page

The title page of the Book of Mormon includes the full title of the work, an author byline, the printing location, the name of the printer, and the year it was printed. In addition, a two paragraph preamble describing the work and its contents is included.