'A chain of testimony': 1841 copy of Book of Mormon stays preserved

The book normally sits in a box, in a dark room with a controlled temperature and humidity level.

It is seen as a "treasured artifact," almost two centuries old.

But on Sunday, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland spoke about the power of the Book of Mormon during The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' 179th Semiannual General Conference with that very book in hand.

His voice impassioned, Holland explained it was the book used by LDS Church founder Joseph Smith's brother Hyrum as a source of comfort as the brothers faced "imminent martyrdom" in 1844.

To ensure the book's preservation, it is stored in prescribed conditions and removed very rarely. Those who handle it usually wear gloves.

When Elder Holland wanted to use the book in his General Conference address, he asked church historians how he should handle the aging text. Because gloves can make hands less nimble, sometimes leading to accidental tears, Elder Holland was simply told to make sure his hands were clean, said Richard E. Turley Jr., assistant church historian and recorder.

The book is exquisite — leather-bound with gold filigree on its edges and stamped into its cover and sides. But it's the inside that is truly incredible, said Turley, who is considered an expert on the book.

In the front cover are the names of those who have owned the book since it was printed in Liverpool, England, in 1841. On one side of the back cover, there are signatures of LDS Church leaders, including Heber J. Grant, James E. Talmage and Orson F. Whitney. On the other is an account written by Hyrum's son, Joseph F. Smith, of his father's last days.

Inside the book, page 610 remains as marked by Hyrum Smith the day he and Joseph Smith left for Carthage Jail, where they would later be shot and killed by a mob. In his note on the back cover, Joseph F. Smith, Hyrum's son who would later become president of the church, said his father took the book from a shelf two or three days before going to Carthage and read the marked passages on the day of his departure.

The book traveled quite a bit before landing in Hyrum Smith's home in Nauvoo, Ill. It is a first edition from the European printing in 1841, planned by members of the Quorum of the Twelve who were serving missions in England. The printing was designed to make the book more accessible to members of the church in England, Turley said.

Those missionaries went overseas in 1839 and under the direction of Joseph Smith were able to print copies of the Book of Mormon in Liverpool, he said.

"It just so happened that Liverpool was a wonderful place to publish books," Turley said. "Even the more ordinary volumes were done with very high standards. This is a remarkable volume."