Lucy Mack's copy of the Book of Mormon

Church acquisition likely belonged to Prophet's mother

A rare 1841 copy of the Book of Mormon that likely belonged to Lucy Mack Smith, mother of the Prophet Joseph Smith, is now owned by the LDS Church, the gift of a church member who wishes to remain anonymous.

Elder Marlin K. Jensen of the Seventy, Church Historian and Recorder, displayed the book during a recent Church News interview in his office.

At the same time, he displayed a portrait of the Prophet's mother by Sutcliffe Maudsley, a Nauvoo, Ill., artist, likely done in 1842 ,in which she is holding a Book of Mormon copy virtually identical to the recent acquisition by the church

"The provenance indicates that it's Lucy's book," Elder Jensen said, "and it's likely this is the very Book of Mormon that she was holding in this painting."

The artist apparently has taken a bit of license by writing the name "The Book of Mormon" across the cover, but otherwise, the painting depicts the color, gilt stamping and raised bands on the spine that characterize the artifact Book of Mormon copy.

Her name imprinted on the base of the book's spine identifies it as Lucy's book, likely a "presentation copy" from the 1841 edition published in England. Because of superior and less-expensive printing and binding, the edition was made there, commissioned by LDS Church apostles on a mission in that land and acting at the behest of Joseph Smith.

It was the fourth edition of the Book of Mormon, the previous ones being the original, published in Palmyra, N.Y., in 1830, the 1837 edition published in Kirtland, Ohio, and the 1840 edition published in Nauvoo.

The book dealer from whom the donor acquired the copy wrote in documentation that the book was discovered in 2002 in Hamilton, Ill., 10 miles outside of Nauvoo, where Lucy died in 1855. It had been owned by descendants of Lucy Smith Milliken, daughter of Lucy Mack, who cared for her mother until Lucy Mack's death.

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This story is provided by the LDS Church News, an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is produced weekly by the Deseret News.