Books

[i-iii], iv, [5], 6-588, [589-590] pp. Octavo [19 cm]; original brown leather boards with a brown leather label on the backstrip (title no longer visible). No front blanks. The leaf with the Testimony of the Three Witnesses and the Testimony of the Eight Witnesses is present [589-590]. One free endsheet at the rear. Text block pulling away from the spine just a bit. Pages lightly rippled. Some very occasional light staining to the pages. Loss from the bottom fore-edge corner of p. 443-444, measuring 1-inch wide by 2-inches deep, and obscuring a little bit of the text. There is a name in contemporary pen on the front pastedown as well as at the head of p. 85. Page number at the head of p. 212 printed as "122". Page number at the head of p. 487 printed as "48". Housed in a custom leather box with presentation inscription stamped in gilt: "To Darryl F. Zanuck | Christmas, 1939 | From Jules Furthman." An original unsophisticated first edition of the Book of Mormon. The first edition of the Book of Mormon was printed in an edition of five thousand copies by Egbert B. Grandin in upstate New York. Printing took place between August 1829 and March 1830, in the Grandin building that Egbert rented from his brother, Philip. Before the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon was officially published, sections were being printed in a local Palmyra newspaper called The Reflector. The newspaper was operated by Abner Cole who used the pseudonym "Obediah Dogberry." After some discussion, Joseph Smith finally convinced Cole to stop his piracy of the book. This "preprinting" of excerpts from the book caused non-Mormons some concern about the doctrines of the Mormon church, and thus began the initial persecution of the Mormons themselves. The 1830 first edition book of Mormon includes many variant copies with printing errors in pagination and spelling. Part of the reason for these variants may be explained by the fact that Joseph Smith used several scribes when writing the book. The scribes included his wife, Emma Hale Smith, his brother-in-law, Reuben Hale, as well as Martin Harris and Oliver Cowdery. According to Peter Crawley "it is possible that very few copies of the book exist which are entirely identical." A highly sought-after book by historical, religious, and Mormon book collectors alike. Crawley I: 1. Flake/Draper 595. Bibliotheca Scallawagiana 230. Howes S 631. Mormon 50: 1. Auerbach 1168. Sabin 83088. This noteworthy presentation copy from prominent screenwriter Jules Furthman (1888-1966) was gifted to the legendary American film producer Darryl Francis Zanuck (1902-1979) during Zanuck's production of the film "Brigham Young," which premiered in 1940. Produced by Zanuck, the film was directed by Henry Hathaway and starred Tyrone Power, Vincent Price, Dean Jagger, and Linda Darnell. Set in 1844 on the Mormon Trail, "Brigham Young" depicts the difficult saga the Mormons faced as they fled westward to their promised land, led by Young in the wake of the assassination of their prophet, Joseph Smith. This gift was given to the legendary film producer, Zanuck, by his long-time friend and creative collaborator, Jules Furthman. Jules Furthman was one of the most prolific and well-known screenwriters of his time. He wrote many notable screenplays including "Mutiny on the Bounty" (1935), "To Have and Have Not" (1944), and "Nightmare Alley" (1947). Darryl Zanuck's career began during the silent film era, and he is best known as a co-founder of Twentieth Century Fox, a company that he controlled well into the 1950s. Early on in his career, while at Warner Brothers Studio, he produced "The Jazz Singer" (1927), the film that heralded the sound revolution. He played a major role in the Hollywood studio system as one of its longest survivors, not only producing such successful films as "The Grapes of Wrath" (1940), "How Green Was My Valley" (1941), "Viva Zapata!" (1952), and "The Longest Day" (1962), but also bringing hugely profitable stars to the forefront.

The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement, which adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2600 BC to AD 421. It was first published by Joseph Smith in 1830.