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Book Binding Materials |
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In August 1829 Joseph Smith took the manuscript of the Book of Mormon to a local printer, E.B. Grandin to be published. It took Grandin's print shop 9 months to print all 5,000 copies of that first edition using an 1822 Smith Improved Printing Press. A run of 5,000 copies was an enormous undertaking for a small, country printer like Grandin. | |||
| In the photo above, you can see some of the materials needed to create a finished book. After printing, the large printed sheets were cut and folded into signatures (d). It took 37½ signatures to create a Book of Mormon. These signatures were sewn together using linen thread (c) to form a text block (e). The text block was then covered with a case made of book boards (a) and leather (b). Figure F is a replica of the original book. |
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