Book of Mormon 1830 Edition Replication
The Crown Jewel

The First Edition of the Book of Mormon was printed and bound in Palmyra, New York in the year 1830. The book's translator and proprietor, Joseph Smith Jr., commissioned a young twenty-four year old printer by the name of E. B. Grandin to perform this task. Of the original 5,000 copies that were printed, less than 600 are known to exist today.

Historic Replication

In commemoration of the 175th Anniversary of this event, Experience Press™ has undertaken the historic replication of the original Book of Mormon, 1830 Edition. The term "historic replication" means that each book will be hand crafted like the original, using exact and similar types of materials and methods. This is what makes the Crown Jewel project so momentous. These books will not contain photo-static images taken from an original. Rather, the process will include:

Building an iron hand press

Creating period-style cotton paper

Printing pages with movable type on the hand press

Hand sewing text blocks

and Individually crafting leather bindings by hand

Meticulous Detail

Fortunately, a great deal of historical data is available concerning the First Edition of the Book of Mormon. In fact, the original compositor of the book, John Gilbert, produced a detailed "memorandum" regarding its production. Through exhaustive research and examination of extant original copies, much has been learned regarding the mode of set-up, the compositions of the original paper and ink, original collation, sewing format, type of leather, and much more. Because of this, Experience Press™ is able to produce an authentic and meticulously detailed work of art.

Rare Collector's Item

Workmanship of this caliber is extremely rare, and projects of this scale are almost never attempted. Given the fact that only 5,000 copies will be printed (each numbered and authenticated), these historically replicated copies of the Book of Mormon are expected to become rare collector's items. Experience Press™ intends to produce a work worthy of being handed down as a cherished family heirloom.

Reserving your copy

The projected completion date for this book is Spring of 2007. If you'd like to reserve a copy of the Book of Mormon 1830 Replica - Limited Crown Jewel Edition, you can preorder one at our online store.