Book of Mormon- Most Expensive Book

More than the Magna Carta or the Gutenberg Bible.

Angel Moroni

In 2017 the Mormon Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints paid $35 million for the manuscript copy of the original text of the religion’s foundational text,¹ The Book of Mormon, dictated by Joseph Smith.

More than the Magna Carta or the Gutenberg Bible.²

The manuscript was reportedly hand-written by Oliver Cowdery, one of Mormonism’s early adherents. In 1830, Smith gave the document to the New York-based printer E.B. Grandin, who used it to set the type for the first printed edition of the Book of Mormon. Cowdery later passed the manuscript on to one David Whitmer, and Whitmer’s grandson and Whitmer’s grandson sold it to the Community of Christ in 1903.³

It will be on exhibit at the Church History Library in downtown Salt Lake City.⁴

Additional sources⁵

The Church History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

1. Jessee, Dean C. "The Original Book of Mormon Manuscript." Brigham Young University Studies 10, no. 3 (1970): 259-78.

2. The Fifteen Most Expensive Books & Manuscripts Ever Sold. (2/5/21). Invaluable.

3. Katz, Briget (2017). Printer’s Manuscript of the Book of Mormon Sells for $35 Million. Smithsonian Magazine. (September 29).

4. Caldwell, Tiffany and Bob Mims (2017). $35 million Book of Mormon manuscript sale called the ‘biggest game-changer in Mormon history’ Salt Lake Tribune. September 21.

5. Jessee, Dean C. "The Original Book of Mormon Manuscript." Brigham Young University Studies 10, no. 3 (1970): 259-78; Morris, Larry E. (2019) A Documentary History of the Book of Mormon. Oxford University Press.