Early Publications on the Book of Mormon

Articles from early newspapers and other publications give rare insights into the way in which the original audience of the Book of Mormon, both believers and critics, viewed the document. A large-scale collection of these documents was not initiated until the 1930s by Francis Kirkham, with encouragement from President George Albert Smith. Kirkham later published his collection in two volumes. His work, while extensive, was not exhaustive. The 19th-Century Publications about the Book of Mormon (1829–1844), a project partnered by the Maxwell Institute and the Harold B. Lee Library, builds on Kirkham’s original research and seeks to preserve every extant published text discussing the Book of Mormon. The collection includes more than six hundred publications related to the Book of Mormon—almost one million words of text.