Book of Mormon First Edition (1830)

The Book of Mormon was published in March 1830 in Palmyra, New York, under the direction of printer Egbert B. Grandin. The typesetting, printing, and calf-leather binding of 5,000 copies—nearly 3 million total pages—began in August 1829 at a cost of $3,000, paid for through the sale of part of Martin Harris’s farm. Copies of the book were read by converts, shared with families, and carried by missionaries to neighboring settlements and states, American Indian communities, and the British Isles. It is estimated that around 700 copies of the first edition remain today. A second edition was printed in 1837.