June 1829 marked the completion of the translation of the gold plates by Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. What was the next step?

Before them lay a nearly 500-page manuscript—raw, unpunctuated, and with minimal paragraph or chapter breaks. The challenges ahead were staggering: securing a printer, preparing the manuscript for printing, protecting their work through copyright, and finding the money to fund it all.

It was a herculean task. Yet, against all odds, Joseph Smith and his associates succeeded, delivering the Book of Mormon to the world and fulfilling a divine mandate.

Printing Logistics: Preparing to Print

Once the translation of the Book of Mormon was complete, the next step was preparing the manuscript for printing, but after the loss of the 116 pages, Joseph Smith became very protective of his translation.

Oliver Cowdery, now Joseph Smith’s primary scribe, meticulously copied the original manuscript onto what became known as the printer’s manuscript. This version, too, lacked punctuation for the most part, which the eventual typesetter, John Gilbert, would later add as he worked.

This second copy served two purposes: it protected the original from wear and tear during the printing process, and it provided the working text for the typesetters while keeping the original reserved and safe. Joseph also sought to protect the Book of Mormon through copyright, which he secured in June 1829.

Finding a Printer: E. B. Grandin and Mortgaging the Farm

Printing the Book of Mormon would, of course, require a printer.

Joseph and Martin first approached E. B. Grandin, a young but ambitious printer in Palmyra, New York. At just 23 years old, Grandin operated the Wayne Sentinel newspaper, and his print shop on Main Street was one of the few places in the area equipped to handle such a large project.

Initially, Grandin turned the pair down, considering the risk of printing a book he thought was a fraud. Joseph and Martin met with other printers, finding one option in a nearby town. But before committing, they approached Grandin one more time. Grandin agreed, but with a condition.

Because of the controversial nature of the Book of Mormon and the potentially limited market, Joseph would have to secure the funds in advance—that's $3,000 that Joseph Smith didn't have. To cover the cost, Martin Harris mortgaged his 240 acres of farmland, following the commandment to "impart of [his property] freely to the printing of the Book of Mormon" from a revelation.

This was no small sacrifice. After publication, when Book of Mormon sales fell below expectations, Martin lost approximately 151 acres of his farm.

The Printing Process: Grandin Print Shop

His print shop became the birthplace of the first edition of the Book of Mormon, a task that would consume nearly eight months of labor.

The physical printing process was labor-intensive and required precision. First, Grandin's head typesetter, John Gilbert, hand-wrote punctuation into the printer's manuscript. Gilbert was not involved in the translation process and had no direct guidance from Joseph or the scribes, so he relied on his own understanding of grammar and context to punctuate the text.

Hyrum Smith, under instruction from Joseph, originally only let the typesetter work with small portions of the printer's manuscript at a time, fearing another 116 pages incident. Eventually, after building a relationship with Gilbert (and Gilbert's complaining that he did not have enough time to punctuate AND set type), Gilbert was allowed to take sections of the manuscript home with him to add punctuation.

After the punctuation was added, each page of the Book of Mormon then had to be typeset by hand, a task performed by skilled compositors who arranged individual metal letters, punctuation marks, and spaces into lines and paragraphs, mirroring the printer’s manuscript.

Once a page was typeset, it was placed into a frame called a "form," which was then inked and pressed onto paper using a hand-operated printing press. Each sheet of paper had to be fed into the press by hand, printed on one side, dried, and then printed on the other. After printing, the sheets were folded into signatures—groups of 16 pages that would later be sewn together and bound into the final book. The Book of Mormon's eventual 592 pages required 37 of these signatures.

The Obadiah Dogberry Incident: Abner Cole and Fisticuffs at Grandin's

It wasn't long before Joseph Smith's fears about protecting his sacred text were proven valid.

One of the most dramatic episodes during the printing of the Book of Mormon involved Abner Cole, a local newspaper editor and constable. Cole, who published The Palmyra Reflector under the pseudonym Obadiah Dogberry, had access to the unbound pages of the Book of Mormon as they came off Grandin’s press. Seeing an opportunity to boost his paper’s circulation, Cole began publishing excerpts from the Book of Mormon in the Reflector, mocking the text and referring to it as “Jo Smith’s Gold Bible.”

Cole’s unauthorized publication did not go unnoticed for long. Hyrum felt prompted to visit Grandin’s print shop on a Sunday afternoon. Accompanied by Oliver, Hyrum discovered Cole at work, printing portions of the Book of Mormon in his newspaper. When confronted, Cole defiantly stated that he would continue publishing the excerpts regardless of their objections, saying "I dont care a dam ... that damned Gold bible is going into my paper."

The situation escalated when Joseph confronted Cole. During their meeting, Cole became irate and threatened Joseph with physical violence. However, Joseph calmly informed Cole that he held the copyright to the Book of Mormon and would take legal action if Cole did not stop. This legal argument proved effective. Cole, realizing the potential consequences, agreed to stop printing the excerpts.

Bonus Trivia:

1. Which binding was used for the first edition of the Book of Mormon?[1]

A. Sheepskin B. Calf leather C. Cloth D. Paperboard

2. Who was responsible for adding punctuation to the printer’s manuscript of the Book of Mormon?[2]

A. Oliver Cowdery B. John H. Gilbert C. Martin Harris D. E. B. Grandin

3. What satirical book name did Obadiah Dogberry (Abner Cole) publish in The Reflector to mock the Book of Mormon?[3]

A. The Words of Mooman B. The Words of Miscreant C. The Book of Vomitus D. The Book of Pukei

4. When Book of Mormon sales fell short and the debt was due, what portion of Martin’s farm did he forfeit?[4]

A. Only 7 acres B. 19 acres, a tenth C. 103 acres, almost half D. 151 acres, over half

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