Joseph Smith Jr.
Selections from the Book of Mormon in the Deseret Alphabet
The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi. Translated by Joseph Smith, Jun. Part I. [Printed in the Deseret Alphabet; title transliterated.]
New York: Russell Bros, 1869. 9 inches, octavo. Publisher's quarter dark blue (nearly black) leather, spine blind-stamped with gilt title and gilt beehive, over pale blue paper-covered boards. Front cover printed with beehive vignette and engraving of the Salt Lake Temple within an ornamental border, rear cover unprinted. [8], 116pp. Two blank leaves each, front and rear. Key to the Deseret Alphabet facing title. Collating complete.
Good. Ex-library, with Brigham Young University Library "Mormon Americana" bookplate to front pastedown, cancelled call-number label to front board, and call number in pencil to first front blank. No other library markings. Covers with general soiling and spotting, edges worn and rubbed through in places. Paper lifting on front board; with loss to the "I" in "Part I". Spine with modest wear, rubbed at head and foot. No repairs. Text clean, bright and unmarked, with light cockling throughout; no staining or tidelines. Hinges sound, binding tight and square.
Part I of the Book of Mormon (Nephi through Words of Mormon), in Brigham Young's phonetic Deseret Alphabet, one of only four 19th century books printed in the alphabet. The cover depicts the Salt Lake Temple complete with its six spires, though construction, begun in 1853, would not finish until 1893.
Flake-Draper 608
