Descriptions:
So if Joseph Smith didn’t write the Book of Mormon, then why in the name of Mike is he labeled as the “Author and Proprietor” in the 1830 edition? Is this evidence of an elaborate con that became more complex over time? Or was it something much less exciting? Dave answers these questions and more in this Faith and Beliefs episode.
Transcript: https://bit.ly/3fNGowO
“Was Joseph Smith the ‘Author’ of the Book of Mormon?” by Book of Mormon Central: https://bit.ly/2UyGh0B
“Joseph Smith: ‘Author and Proprietor’” by Miriam A. Smith and John W. Welch: https://bit.ly/3kDW9cM
“Copyright Laws and the 1830 Book of Mormon,” by Nathaniel Hinckley Wadsworth (BYU Studies): https://bit.ly/36QzFNC
“Joseph Smith’s Negotiations to Publish the Book of Mormon,” by Gerrit J. Dirkmaat & Michael Hubbard MacKay (BYU): https://bit.ly/3kEsZdx
“Analysis of Textual Variants in the Book of Mormon,” by Royal Skousen, pg. 35-36: https://bit.ly/3xTBC82
1830 Book of Mormon “Copyright Page” (Joseph Smith Papers): https://bit.ly/3zjlwom
1830 Book of Mormon title page (Joseph Smith Papers): https://bit.ly/3rl8vbk
Book of Mormon title page submitted to the county clerk (1829): https://bit.ly/36McW5o
Book of Mormon copyright certificate from county clerk: https://bit.ly/2Ts70eW
Read the “Copyright Act of 1790” here (amended in 1802): https://bit.ly/3BlgU2V
Wayne Sentinel June 26, 1829 publication of the title page: https://bit.ly/36LoRjR
Notes:
–Concerning the 5 requirements mentioned in the video that one must meet in order to obtain a copyright: There is no record (yet discovered) that Joseph ever sent a copy of the Book of Mormon to the secretary of state. The law also required that the full copyright certificate be published for 4 consecutive weeks in a newspaper, within two months of receiving the certificate. On this subject Nathaniel Wadsworth wrote,
“Less certain is whether Joseph completely satisfied the statutory requirement of publishing the court’s certificate in a local newspaper for four weeks within the two months after filing the book’s title. On June 26, 1829, Egbert B. Grandin, with whom Joseph later contracted to print the Book of Mormon, published the text of the book’s title page in his Palmyra newspaper, the Wayne Sentinel. This text was again published in August by two other local papers: in the Palmyra Freeman, on August 11, and in the Niagara Courier, on August 27. The articles in the Freeman and the Courier spoke derogatorily of the ‘Golden Bible,’ and probably copied the title page from the Wayne Sentinel. Joseph Smith attempted to follow the law by having Grandin publish the text of the title page, but the law required the publication of the entire copyright certificate. Furthermore, the title page did not appear in a newspaper ‘for four weeks’ before August 11, the date by which the publishing requirement was to be met. On March 26, 1830, Grandin again published the title page of the Book of Mormon in the Wayne Sentinel and announced that the book was available for purchase. This was followed by publication of the book’s title page in the Wayne Sentinel on April 2, 9, and 16, and May 7. These consecutive notices may have been a second attempt on the part of Grandin and Joseph Smith to satisfy the legal requirements for copyright. Richard Lloyd Anderson notes that Joseph and his associates ‘may have thought they were complying with the intent of the law by printing just what they had originally submitted to the clerk of the court—the title page.’ While the notices in Grandin’s newspaper could have merely been advertisements for the sale of the book, the fact that there were four of them in consecutive weeks, as required by the statute, might indicate otherwise. Still, these notices, coming almost a full year following Joseph’s original filing with R. R. Lansing would not appear to satisfy the law’s two-month requirement …. An extensive examination of several New York and Pennsylvania newspapers printed in the 1820s revealed very few occasions on which an author published the full copyright certificate from any federal district court. At the same time, advertisements for the sale of newly published books are numerous. Moreover, several books published in the early nineteenth century claimed to be copyrighted but did not include a copy of the court’s certificate printed in the book. Though some authors no doubt complied with every aspect of the federal copyright statute, it may still be true that Joseph Smith did more than most.” Source: https://bit.ly/36QzFNC
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