Egbert Bratt Grandin (March 30, 1806 – April 16, 1845) was a printer in Palmyra, New York, best known for publishing the first edition of the

Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, first published in 1830 by Joseph Smith as ''The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi''. The book is one of ...

, a

sacred text Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They often feature a compilation or discussion of beliefs, ritual practices, moral commandments and ...

of the churches of the

Latter Day Saint movement The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by ...

Biography

Grandin was born in Freehold,

Monmouth County, New Jersey Monmouth County () is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is bordered to its west by Mercer and Middlesex Counties, to its south by Ocean County, to its east by the Atlantic Ocean, and to its north ...

, the youngest of ten children, and was reared on a farm near Palmyra, New York. At eighteen, he became an apprentice printer at the office of Palmyra's '' Wayne Sentinel'', which he purchased in 1827. Besides publishing the newspaper, Grandin sold and bound books and operated a lending library. He married Harriet Rogers in 1828; they had six children, five of whom lived to adulthood. Grandin died at Palmyra.

Grandin Print Shop and the first publication of the Book of Mormon

Grandin first rejected the request of

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious and political leader and the founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. Publishing the Book of Mormon at the age of 24, Smith attracted tens of thou ...

to publish the Book of Mormon possibly "out of principle because he considered the book to be fraudulent and suspected that it would be a risky financial venture." Smith then sought a Rochester printer to do the job. "Realizing the work would proceed anyway, Grandin apparently overcame his scruples or his reservations and agreed to publish the work in Palmyra," requiring a $3000 security to print five thousand copies. "Fulfilling his wife's worst fears," Martin Harris, a well-to-do farmer and early believer in Smith's revelations, mortgaged his farm as security for the costly endeavor, effectively ending his marriage. On June 26, 1829, the twenty-three-year-old Grandin announced in the ''Wayne Sentinel'' that he intended to publish the

"as soon as the translation is complete."

Oliver Cowdery Oliver H. P. Cowdery (October 3, 1806 – March 3, 1850) was an American religious leader who, with Joseph Smith, was an important participant in the formative period of the Latter Day Saint movement between 1829 and 1836. He was the first bapt ...

prepared a copy of the manuscript, and Grandin bought "500 pounds of new small pica" type in New York. The chief compositor, John H. Gilbert, found that the manuscript was "closely written and legible, but not a punctuation mark from beginning to end." Gilbert said that he added punctuation and capitalization in the evenings. Cowdery also set some type. To print the book, Grandin used a Smith Improved Printing Press invented by Peter Smith (1795–1823), which first appeared on the market about 1821 and was the most up-to-date press available to the small printer of the day. In October, Smith wrote that locals were "very much excited" by the prospect of publication, but their excitement was not the sort that Smith had hoped for. The ''Palmyra Freeman'' called the prospective book "the greatest piece of superstition that has come to our knowledge." In September, Abner Cole began a weekly, the ''Palmyra Reflector'', and because he used Grandin's press, Cole had access to the unbound sheets and reprinted mocking excerpts until Smith threatened legal action. According to Smith's mother,

Lucy Mack Smith Lucy Mack Smith (July 8, 1775 – May 14, 1856) was the mother of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. She is noted for writing the memoir, ''History of Joseph Smith by His Mother, Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith, the Pr ...

, locals then organized a boycott, and Grandin "panicked and suspended publication until Joseph managed to allay his fears." Smith received a

revelation Revelation, or divine revelation, is the disclosing of some form of Religious views on truth, truth or Knowledge#Religion, knowledge through communication with a deity (god) or other supernatural entity or entities in the view of religion and t ...

for Harris, "a commandment of God and not of man," that he should "not covet" his property "but impart it freely to the printing of the Book of Mormon which contains the truth and the word of God .... Pay the debt thou hast contracted with the printer." By late March 1830, the Book of Mormon was available for sale, but the entire first edition was not complete until early summer. Harris desperately tried to sell the books himself but lamented that "no Body icwants them." Harris's farm was sold for $3000 and the proceeds paid to Grandin. In 1999, a copy of Grandin's first edition of the Book of Mormon sold for $58,000; in 2000 another copy was sold for $44,000; and in 2007 a copy was sold at auction for $180,000. On March 26, 1998, the anniversary of the first printing,

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(LDS Church) dedicated a restoration of part of the original Grandin establishment, which the church maintains and where it offers free guided tours. On September 18, 2017, the LDS Church purchased the Cowdery manuscript used by Grandin. The church bought the manuscript from the

Independence, Missouri Independence is a city in and one of two county seats of Jackson County, Missouri, United States. It is a satellite city of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the largest suburb on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metropolitan area. In 2020 Unite ...

-based

Community of Christ Community of Christ, known legally and from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS), is an American-based international church, and is the second-largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement ...

for a reported price of $35 million. The Community of Christ, formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, had owned the manuscript since 1903.

References

External links

Book of Mormon Historic Publication Site Grandin Printing Shop
- Visiting information
Official site of Grandin Print Shop
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grandin, E. B. 1806 births 1845 deaths American printers Book of Mormon studies People from Palmyra, New York People from Monmouth County, New Jersey Latter Day Saint movement in New York (state)