1830 "The Book of Mormon" First Printing
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GUEST:
The book belonged to my great-great-grandfather, who was an early-day Texas Presbyterian minister. He also founded the City Temple Presbyterian Church in downtown Dallas. And he's buried right outside the convention center here. We don't know how he got the book. He was kind of a Renaissance man, because he also read for the law and did a number of different things in his life. I was, um, given some of his books, and this was one of them. And I've been interested in it ever since, and wondered, "Is this truly an original printing?" Which it seems to be.
APPRAISER:
This is a “Book of Mormon," or should I say it is The Book of Mormon. It is a first printing. It's 1830, New York. There was an original printing run of 5,000 of these, which, for 1830, is a lot-- that's a lot of books. Now we know there are about half that many left. It's in the original sheepskin binding, which is very, very, very nice. We're missing a couple of pages here, the free front endpapers. We're not missing any text. And we have water damage to the title page. And when we get further along into your book, it does carry through to the back.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
It affects the value in the collectible world. Collectors like to have their books as close to the original...
GUEST:
Pristine.
APPRAISER:
Pristine-- however, this is The Book of Mormon. This is the pinnacle book of collecting in Mormon culture. It's not a particularly rare book, but it is a valuable book. I can see it having a retail price of $75,000.
GUEST:
(chuckles): Oh, my goodness. Even with water damage?
APPRAISER:
Even with the water damage.
GUEST:
Oh, my goodness.
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