Rare LDS texts stolen from museum

SALT LAKE CITY — A dozen rare books, including two first-edition copies of the Book of Mormon, have been stolen from the museum operated by the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, police said Wednesday.

The theft occurred overnight after someone broke into the Capitol Hill museum through a window. Inside, it appeared someone used a roofer's hammer to shatter a glass case where the books were stored, said Utah Department of Public Safety Lt. Tony Garcia. A UHP trooper patrolling capitol grounds noticed a cut screen and the broken museum window about 1 a.m. Wednesday, Garcia said.

Among the materials taken were 11 copies of the Book of Mormon, the central text of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Garcia said. Two of the books were first editions, published in 1830, the same year the church was founded by Joseph Smith. Several second and third edition books were also removed, including an early copy of the Doctrine and Covenants, another Mormon religious text. Also taken was a Tibetan wood printing block.

Docents at the museum told police the value of the materials tops $100,000, Garcia said.

Salt Lake City rare book dealer Ken Sanders, however, said he believes their worth could be considerably more because several of the manuscripts bear inscriptions from early church leaders.

Among those is an 1851 Italian translation of the Book of Mormon given to John Taylor by Lorenzo Snow, both of whom later served as presidents of the church, said Sanders, who was given a list of the stolen manuscripts by police.

"It might be this copy alone could be worth $25,000 to $50,000," said Sanders, who estimates the total value of the missing works at more than $300,000.

Telephone messages left at the DUP museum by The Associated Press on Wednesday were not immediately returned.

According to the organization's Web site, the International Society-Daughters of the Utah Pioneers was founded in 1901 to preserve the state's heritage and history. The Pioneer Memorial Museum, which sits adjacent to the Utah State Capitol, houses pioneer memorabilia including artwork, rare books, quilts, furniture, clothing and other artifacts.

"That museum is a treasure trove of priceless Mormon and pioneer artifacts," Sanders said.

Security at the museum has not been very tight, said Sanders, who served for six years as a security expert for the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America.

In fact, some of the books stolen Wednesday were among 100 items stolen from the museum in 1993, said Garcia, who was the investigator on that case. All were eventually recovered, he said.