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Agreement with Ebenezer Robinson and Don Carlos Smith, 14 December 1840
Source Note
Source Note
JS, Agreement, with and , , Hancock Co., IL, 14 Dec. 1840; handwriting of and ; signatures of JS, , and ; one page; JS Materials, CCLA.
One leaf, measuring 8⅛ × 7¾ inches (21 × 20 cm), with twenty-nine printed horizontal lines. The right, left, and bottom edges of the leaf have the square cut of manufactured paper. The top of the leaf is unevenly cut and contains a remnant of handwriting, indicating that the leaf was cut by hand from a larger piece of paper. The document was folded twice horizontally. It is unknown when and how the document came into the possession of the Community of Christ.
Historical Introduction
Historical Introduction
On 14 December 1840, JS certified a transaction with and in which JS obtained stereotype plates for the 1840 edition of the Book of Mormon. In exchange, JS granted to the two men the privilege of printing twenty-five hundred copies of that edition, which likely meant that they were granted the right to the profits generated from the sale of those copies. Robinson had arranged on credit to create the plates and to print and bind the first two thousand copies with three separate businesses in . When Robinson returned to , Illinois, in September 1840, he brought with him the materials to set up his own stereotype foundry and bookbindery in Nauvoo. Together with the Robinson and Don Carlos Smith ran, the foundry and bindery enabled Robinson and Smith to print in Nauvoo the remaining five hundred copies JS authorized.
Although and had raised the majority of the money to buy the stereotype plates and to print the first two thousand copies of the new edition, JS, as the holder of the book’s copyright, was entitled to the profits from its sales. With JS’s permission, Robinson contracted the printing of the 1840 edition in June 1840 with personal loans totaling $1,050. By the time Robinson returned to from in September 1840, he had paid the entire debt. He and Don Carlos Smith had raised the funds to meet the debt by selling advanced subscriptions for the new edition, obtaining a personal loan of $200 from a church member, and receiving a small amount of money raised by and . Through this transaction with JS, Robinson and Smith were compensated for their work, and JS obtained the plates necessary to print additional copies of the Book of Mormon and had his copyright privileges honored.
, one of JS’s scribes, prepared the document and served as a witness for the certificate after JS signed it. Notations added in 1842 indicate that assigned his right to the privilege associated with this printing to .
Footnotes
- [1]
According to Robinson’s reminiscence half a century later, when Robinson discussed with JS the subject of printing a new edition of the Book of Mormon in 1840, JS agreed to grant him and Don Carlos Smith “the privilege of printing four thousand copies.” It is unclear why the permitted number of copies decreased to twenty-five hundred. (Ebenezer Robinson, “Items of Personal History of the Editor,” Return, May 1890, 258–259.)
The Return. Davis City, IA, 1889–1891; Richmond, MO, 1892–1893; Davis City, 1895–1896; Denver, 1898; Independence, MO, 1899–1900.
- [2]
Ebenezer Robinson, “Items of Personal History of the Editor,” Return, May 1890, 259–261.
The Return. Davis City, IA, 1889–1891; Richmond, MO, 1892–1893; Davis City, 1895–1896; Denver, 1898; Independence, MO, 1899–1900.
- [3]
In late 1839 and early 1840, the First Presidency insisted that the next edition of the Book of Mormon be printed in Nauvoo, where the work could be done under the presidency’s supervision. However, the church lacked the necessary supplies to complete the undertaking there. JS then authorized Robinson and Smith to arrange for the production of the first print run of the new edition in Cincinnati. The title page of the new edition indicated that it was “stereotyped by Shepard and Stearns, West 3rd St. Cincinnati, Ohio.” The title page also indicated that the edition was printed in “Nauvoo, Ill.” by “Robinson and Smith,” which described the later copies made from the stereotype plates. (Letter from Parley P. Pratt, 22 Nov. 1839; Hyrum Smith, Nauvoo, IL, to Parley P. Pratt, New York City, NY, 22 Dec. 1839, in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 80–81; Letter from Hyrum Smith, 2 Jan. 1840; Ebenezer Robinson, “Items of Personal History of the Editor,” Return, May 1890, 258–259; Title Page, Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., [iii].)
The Return. Davis City, IA, 1889–1891; Richmond, MO, 1892–1893; Davis City, 1895–1896; Denver, 1898; Independence, MO, 1899–1900.
- [4]
On JS’s copyright for the Book of the Mormon and how it influenced the way he directed the publication of the book’s 1840 edition, see Copyright for Book of Mormon, 11 June 1829; Letter from Parley P. Pratt, 22 Nov. 1839; and Letter from Hyrum Smith, 2 Jan. 1840.
- [5]
Ebenezer Robinson, “Items of Personal History of the Editor,” Return, May 1890, 259–260; Historical Introduction to Recommendation for Samuel Bent and George W. Harris, between ca. 17 and ca. 28 July 1840.
The Return. Davis City, IA, 1889–1891; Richmond, MO, 1892–1893; Davis City, 1895–1896; Denver, 1898; Independence, MO, 1899–1900.
- [6]
Referring to the printing of the new edition of the Book of Mormon in Cincinnati, Robinson later recalled that “the work was accomplished, and all paid for before the time specified in the contracts.” (Ebenezer Robinson, “Items of Personal History of the Editor,” Return, May 1890, 261.)
The Return. Davis City, IA, 1889–1891; Richmond, MO, 1892–1893; Davis City, 1895–1896; Denver, 1898; Independence, MO, 1899–1900.
- [7]
In 1890 Robinson recalled that he and Don Carlos Smith solicited advance subscriptions for the new edition from church members, “offering them one hundred and twenty books for every one hundred dollars sent us in advance, in time to meet our engagements.” Robinson recounted that he was able to cover the cost of producing the first two thousand copies by selling approximately one thousand copies in advance, meaning that he “had nearly one thousand copies left” to sell. He further recalled that John Forgeus—a church member in Chester County, Pennsylvania, whom Robinson had never met—sent him “a draft on a Philadelphia Bank for two hundred dollars, as a loan.” In September 1840, Bent and Harris reported that they had raised “about Eighty three dollars” from church members in Illinois. Accounting for the loan and the funds raised by Bent and Harris, it appears that Robinson and Smith raised nearly $800 from the sale of advanced subscriptions, unless there were other loans or donations. (Ebenezer Robinson, “Items of Personal History of the Editor,” Return, May 1890, 261; Letter from Samuel Bent and George W. Harris, 23 Sept. 1840.)
The Return. Davis City, IA, 1889–1891; Richmond, MO, 1892–1893; Davis City, 1895–1896; Denver, 1898; Independence, MO, 1899–1900.
This may certify that for value received in Stereotyp[e] plates of the Book of Mormon, I hereby bargain grant to & printers of Hancock Co. Ills, the priviledge of printing Two thousand five hundred copies of the Book of Mormon, including the edition, which said Robinson & Smith have allready printed, said Robinson and Smith to have the use of the said Stereotype plates for printing the remainder of the Two thousand <five hundred> copies.
Given under my hand and seal this fourteenth day of Decr. A. D. 1840
Joseph Smith
Witness
2000 of the above Book Printed.
[p. [1]]
Source Note
Source Note
Document Transcript
Document Information
Document Information
Footnotes
Footnotes
Robert B. Thompson handwriting begins.
- [1]
Stereotyping was a printing innovation that grew in popularity in the United States during the 1820s. Traditionally, printers set moveable type for a certain number of pages, printed those pages, and then reused that same type in printing subsequent pages. If an author wanted to print additional copies after a book was printed, the entire typesetting process had to happen again. Stereotyping—forming plaster molds of typeset pages and pouring melted metal in the mold—resulted in permanent page plates. These plates were an expensive investment but one that saved much time when reprinting a book. (Author’s Printing and Publishing Assistant, 21–22; Pretzer, “‘Of the Paper Cap and Inky Apron’: Journeymen Printers,” 163.)
The Author’s Printing and Publishing Assistant: Comprising Explanations of the Process of Printing Preparation and Calculation of Manuscripts, Choice of Paper, Type, Binding, Illustrations, Publishing, Advertising, &c. with an Exemplification and Description of the Typographical Marks Used in the Correction of the Press. London: Saunders and Otley, 1839.
Pretzer, William S. “‘Of the Paper Cap and Inky Apron’: Journeymen Printers.” In An Extensive Republic: Print, Culture, and Society in the New Nation, 1790–1840, edited by Robert A. Gross and Mary Kelley, 160–171. Vol. 2 of A History of the Book in America. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010.
Signature of JS.
Robert B. Thompson handwriting ends; Ebenezer Robinson begins.