The Abridging Works: The Epic and Historic Book of Mormon Arranged in Sequence of Composition

The record translated and published in 1830 as the Book of Mormon was composed by Mormon and other authors in some sequence. Here at last we can read the text in its sequence of composition. The result is an utterly original reading of the Book of Mormon. This reading reveals surprises within the text itself. The biography of Mormon composed over three decades shapes the historical narrative; an original introduction to the earliest (and lost) abridgment is recovered from what is now called 3 Nephi; and a groundbreaking revision of the received tradition regarding the Small and Large Plates of Nephi is brought forward. Additional essays by the editor introduce evidence for an order of composition by Mormon, Moroni, and others. Material is presented that 1 Nephi was added in June 1829, and compiled from additional plates recovered from Cumorah. Other essays give new insights into the role of lineage in the transmission of records, speculate on an alternate history of the "lost leaves" of 1828, and introduce a theory of translation essential for scholarly study of the Book of Mormon. And happily, the text has been freed from the constraints of column and verse, and oriented to the epic and historic genres more appropriate for its wingspan and tragic grandeur, for appreciating the complexity of its composition.

Daymon M. Smith holds a doctoral degree in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania. He authored The Book of Mammon: A Book About A Book About The Corporation That Owns The Mormons, a work drawn from experiences at the LDS Church Office Building. And by analyzing never-before published materials, his dissertation The Last Shall Be First And The First Shall Be Last: Discourse And Mormon History, sheds new light on the history and cultural effects of the corporate practice and editorial process called "Correlation." These earlier books are described in an award-winning podcast on MormonStories.org, and in a nine-part series for ByCommonConsent.com awarded best historical post of 2010.