[Mormon; LDS] A BOOK OF COMMANDMENTS, FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST, ORGANIZED ACCORDING TO LAW, ON THE 6TH OF APRIL, 1830 (Facsimile)

[Scrub Oak Press] Smith, Joseph | note and bibliography by Peter Crawley

Published by Salt Lake City: Scrub Oak Press [Zion: W. W. Phelps & Co.], 2010

About this Item

16mo. 160 pp. Limited edition, number 36 of 100 copies of the regular edition. There was also a deluxe edition of 29 copies. Fine letterpress printing from photopolymer plates on a period-appropriate paper hand-made for this edition and bound in salmon colored calf with a simple gilt rules on the spine. The binding and its decoration follow the binding of an extant copy lending this the 'feel' of an original copy. It is indeed an impressive edition of the most elusive of Mormon texts. The regular edition comprises this replica as well as, "A Note on the Book of Commandments" by Peter Crawley (16mo. 32pp., backed in calf with marbled paper over boards); both books are housed in an attractive full cloth clamshell with morocco title label. A beautiful copy in Fine or nearly Fine condition. The Book of Commandments was the first printed edition of the collected revelations received by Joseph Smith (later to become known as the Doctrine and Covenants); it was almost wholly lost when Phelps's printing house in Independence, MO was sacked by an anti-Mormon mob and the printed sheets scattered or destroyed. Some sheets survived, gathered up during the attack by a few members of the church; 29 extant copies were made up from these collected sheets. Crawley's "Note," written expressly for this edition and only available herein, offers a good history and bibliography of the book as well as a thorough census of these extant copies, including bibliographical information of most. The original edition is breathtakingly scarce and with all but 9 of the 29 copies held by institutions, copies rarely come on the market. This is a remarkable replica edition of an extremely important book and owning it is, arguably, as close as one will get to the owning the original. Sabin 50729; Streeter 1854 (both references are for the first edition).

Seller Inventory # 6431

Bibliographic Details

• Title: [Mormon; LDS] A BOOK OF COMMANDMENTS, FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST, ORGANIZED ACCORDING TO LAW, ON THE 6TH OF APRIL, 1830 (Facsimile)
• Publisher: Salt Lake City: Scrub Oak Press [Zion: W. W. Phelps & Co.]
• Publication Date: 2010
• Binding: Full Leather
• Condition: Near Fine binding
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Religion
  • Private Press
  • Rare Book Room