From June 1830 to July 1833, JS worked on a revision or translation of the Bible, using the King James Version rather than ancient writings as his original text. Though the translation primarily consisted of minor revisions, JS added significant amounts of new text in some portions. JS intended to publish his translation, but the work was never published during his lifetime. In August 1844 Willard Richards sought to obtain the manuscripts of the Bible revision from Emma Smith, but “she said she did not feel disposed to give it up at present.” At least one council member continued to express interest in the translation during the summer of 1845. John M. Bernhisel made a partial copy of it in late May and early June of 1845. (Letter to Church Leaders in Jackson Co., MO, 25 June 1833; “Books!!!,” Times and Seasons, July 1840, 1:139–140; “End of the Third Volume,” Times and Seasons, 15 Oct. 1842, 3:957–958; Richards, Journal, 19 Aug. 1844; Bible Revision, John Bernhisel manuscript, 1845, CHL.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.
Bible Revision, John Bernhisel manuscript, 1845. Photocopy. CHL.
See “Power Press,” in Rummonds, Nineteenth-Century Printing Practices, 2:1020. Steam-powered printing presses were first introduced into the United States in 1821 and were used in the following decade in printing pamphlets and books; however, because of technical problems, steam-powered presses did not become widely adopted in U.S. book printing until after an improved version was patented in 1836. (Green, “Rise of Book Publishing,” 118.)
Rummonds, Richard-Gabriel. Nineteenth-Century Printing Practices and the Iron Handpress. 2 vols. New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press; London: British Library, 2004.
Green, James N. “The Rise of Book Publishing.” In A History of the Book in America, vol. 2, An Extensive Republic: Print, Culture, and Society in the New Nation, 1790–1840, edited by Robert A. Gross and Mary Kelley, 75–127. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010.