I got a response from the proffessor that I emailed about the first edition Book of Mormon. Here is what he said.
Dear Austin,
The people to ask would be a couple of BYU librarians. Their names are David_Whittaker@byu.edu or Larry_Draper@byu.edu. They both have quite a bit of expertise in rare Mormon books and could give you an estimate as to it's worth. The last that I heard of one selling that was in good condition was about $50,000. They have really shot up in price over the last 15 years because LDS businessmen have been buying them up for their kids and grandkids. I heard that there were about 200-300 copies in existence today.
Parenthetically, I have been watching for a copy here for use in Religious Education. I would not mind buying one and then keeping it here so that many BYU BoM students could see and even touch it. It has occurred to me that the concept of witnesses in the scriptures is best outlined in the experiences of the three and the eight witnesses to the BoM, specifically the notion of "seeing, feeling and hearing" the witness. Anyway, tell your friends that they shouldn't touch the pages without having protective cloth gloves on and that it's humidity should be keep fairly constant. (They probably know those things already.)
Well, I hope this will help answer your questions. Keep me posted if they are the slightest bit interested in getting it into a safer environment where many more could have a chance to experience it and be impacted.
My Best,
Br. Wilson
I love BYU. Love it.
4 comments:
Austin, that's so awesome! (And that prof. sounds like a pretty cool guy!)
Is that Keith Wilson? He and Steve go way back.
So...the people's names are e-mail addresses? That's weird.
Personally- I don't know what I would do in the situation. What an amazing thing to have a an emblem of your heritage, but it is true that this can be a great opportunity to share and possibly help testimonies grow. This is awesome. You have to tell Meggan about all of this.
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