“Valuable Discovery,” circa Early July 1835

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“Valuable Discovery,” circa Early July 1835
Source Note

“Valuable Discovery of hiden reccords that have been obtained from the ancient buring place of the Egiyptians,” [
Kirtland Township
Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Latter-day Saint missionaries visited township, early Nov. 1830; many residents joined Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and...
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, Geauga Co., OH, ca. early July 1835]; English in the handwriting of
Oliver Cowdery
3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...
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; hieratic and unknown characters in unidentified handwriting (likely Cowdery); later redaction in the handwriting of
Frederick G. Williams
28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
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; signature of JS; three pages; Kirtland Egyptian Papers, CHL.

Small notebook with a text block consisting of two gatherings, each of which consists of three machine-ruled sheets folded in half to make six leaves, for a total of twenty-four pages. The six sheets from which the notebook was made were probably originally three sheets that were cut in half horizontally. The leaves in the text block measure 6 × 7⅞ inches (15 × 20 cm). Each page contains about seventeen blue lines, now badly faded. Judging from the size of the paper, the color and number of lines, and the spacing between the lines, it appears the same paper used for this notebook may have been used for Copies of Egyptian Characters, circa Summer 1835–A.
1
Copies of Egyptian Characters, ca. Summer 1835–A.
The two gatherings were sewn together, and a brown wrapper that is slightly larger than the text block was then sewn to the gatherings (though the wrapper is currently not attached to the gatherings). With the wrapper, the notebook measures 6⅛ × 8½ inches (16 × 22 cm).

Staining on the cover and on the edges of the text block matches similar staining of other documents related to the Egyptian-language project, indicating close, long-term storage with them. The first three leaves are inscribed on the recto side of each leaf. Each of the recto pages of the notebook was paginated at a later time with the numbers 1 through 3. The handwriting and style of this later pagination match those on other Egyptian-language and Book of Abraham documents, which also points to collective custody and storage. “Valuable Discovery” was presumably included with the Egyptian material identified in various Historian’s Office inventories throughout the nineteenth century, which suggests continuous institutional custody.
2
“Schedule of Church Records. Nauvoo 1846,” [1]; “Inventory. Historian’s Office. 4th. April 1855,” [1]; “Historian’s Office Inventory, G. S. L. City March 19, 1858,” [1]; “Historian’s Office Catalogue Book March 1858,” [7], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL; see also Historian’s Office, Journal, 17 Oct. 1855.
Comprehensive Works Cited
Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.
Historian’s Office. Journal, 1844–1997. CHL. CR 100 1.
Footnotes
[1]
Copies of Egyptian Characters, ca. Summer 1835–A.
[2]
“Schedule of Church Records. Nauvoo 1846,” [1]; “Inventory. Historian’s Office. 4th. April 1855,” [1]; “Historian’s Office Inventory, G. S. L. City March 19, 1858,” [1]; “Historian’s Office Catalogue Book March 1858,” [7], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL; see also Historian’s Office, Journal, 17 Oct. 1855.
Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.
Historian’s Office. Journal, 1844–1997. CHL. CR 100 1.
Historical Introduction
This notebook is a companion to Notebook of Copied Egyptian Characters, circa Early July 1835. The first two pages of this notebook contain copies of hieratic characters, which are separated into three groupings. The characters appear to have been copied from several chapters of a nonextant version of the Book of the Dead for Amenhotep.
1
Portions of either chapter 18, 19, or 20, and chapters 45 and 46 (continued to the second notebook), and one or more unidentified chapters. (Ritner, Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri, 209–212; see also Rhodes, Books of the Dead, 5.)
Ritner, Robert K. The Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri: A Complete Edition, P. JS 1–4 and the Hypocephalus of Sheshonq. Salt Lake City: Smith-Pettit Foundation, 2011.
Rhodes, Michael D. Books of the Dead Belonging to Tshemmin and Neferirnub: A Translation and Commentary. Studies in the Book of Abraham 4. Provo, UT: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, Brigham Young University, 2010.
The first page of this notebook contains two columns of hieratic characters, beneath which
Oliver Cowdery
3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...
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noted (in English) the location of the hieratic characters in relation to specific illustrations on the now-nonextant papyrus roll. The second page contains a third set of characters without any English description of their placement. The third and final inscribed page contains English text in Cowdery’s handwriting, with a few hieroglyphic characters that are also found on page 2 of the second notebook. This English text is identified in the second notebook as “A Translation” of Egyptian characters.
2
Notebook of Copied Egyptian Characters, circa Early July 1835.

Frederick G. Williams
28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
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wrote a title on the front cover of this notebook, and JS signed his name on the front cover as well. Williams also wrote his own last name and initials on the back cover of the second notebook, implying he had access to both notebooks—perhaps when he was working with JS and others on the Book of Abraham text.

See also Introduction to Notebooks of Copied Egyptian Characters, ca. Early July 1835.
Footnotes
[1]
Portions of either chapter 18, 19, or 20, and chapters 45 and 46 (continued to the second notebook), and one or more unidentified chapters. (Ritner, Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri, 209–212; see also Rhodes, Books of the Dead, 5.)
Rhodes, Michael D. Books of the Dead Belonging to Tshemmin and Neferirnub: A Translation and Commentary. Studies in the Book of Abraham 4. Provo, UT: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, Brigham Young University, 2010.
[2]
Notebook of Copied Egyptian Characters, circa Early July 1835.
Page 3
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✦
4
TEXT: This character, here written to look like multiple characters, appears in three different places on the second page of Notebook of Copied Egyptian Characters, ca. Early July 1835. The character that most closely matches this one is below the rightmost drawing of a falcon-headed canopic jar. (Ritner, Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri, 211n13.)
Katumin, Princess, daughter of On-i-tas -[Pharaoh King]- of Egypt, ✦ ✦ ✦
5
TEXT: These characters also appear on the second page of Notebook of Copied Egyptian Characters, ca. Early July 1835. In that notebook, they are reversed in order and are the second, third, and fourth characters on the first line (reading right to left). (Ritner, Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri, 211n17.)
who <began to> reigned in the year of the world 2962.

✦
6
TEXT: This character also appears on the second page of Notebook of Copied Egyptian Characters, ca. Early July 1835. In that notebook, it is reversed and is the fifth character on the first line (reading right to left). (Ritner, Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri, 211n19.)
Katumin was born in the 30th year of the reign of her father, and died when she was 28 years old, which was the year 3020.

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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
“Valuable Discovery,” circa Early July 1835
ID #
8104
Total Pages
28
Print Volume Location
JSP, R4:27–31
Handwriting on This Page
Oliver Cowdery
Footnotes
[4]
TEXT: This character, here written to look like multiple characters, appears in three different places on the second page of Notebook of Copied Egyptian Characters, ca. Early July 1835. The character that most closely matches this one is below the rightmost drawing of a falcon-headed canopic jar. (Ritner, Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri, 211n13.)
[5]
TEXT: These characters also appear on the second page of Notebook of Copied Egyptian Characters, ca. Early July 1835. In that notebook, they are reversed in order and are the second, third, and fourth characters on the first line (reading right to left). (Ritner, Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri, 211n17.)
[6]
TEXT: This character also appears on the second page of Notebook of Copied Egyptian Characters, ca. Early July 1835. In that notebook, it is reversed and is the fifth character on the first line (reading right to left). (Ritner, Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri, 211n19.)