?????By Joseph Smith Junior, Author and Proprietor?????

[_Corpsegrinder]

The 1830 edition identifies Joseph Smith as "author" of the Book of Mormon in not one, not two, but in three places, maybe more.

FAIR, however, reassures us that Joseph Smith merely translated the book, and that he (somewhat disingenuously) identified himself as “author and proprietor” in a strategy to secure personal ownership of the book’s copyright. Having done so, he published and attempted to sell the book for $1.75 a copy…notwithstanding the fact that publication costs did not exceed sixty cents a copy.

So, where exactly does the Lord command Joseph Smith to secure personal ownership of the Book of Mormon and then sell it for the purposes of personal enrichment? Or is this just another, more sophisticated form of “money digging”?

[_Buffalo]

The 1830 edition identifies Joseph Smith as "author" of the Book of Mormon in not one, not two, but in three places, maybe more.

FAIR, however, reassures us that Joseph Smith merely translated the book, and that he (somewhat disingenuously) identified himself as “author and proprietor” in a strategy to secure personal ownership of the book’s copyright. Having done so, he published and attempted to sell the book for $1.75 a copy…notwithstanding the fact that publication costs did not exceed sixty cents a copy.

So, where exactly does the Lord command Joseph Smith to secure personal ownership of the Book of Mormon and then sell it for the purposes of personal enrichment? Or is this just another, more sophisticated form of “money digging”?

This is what is known in the book itself as "priestcraft."

[_Tobin]

That only goes to show that Joseph Smith was indeed a profit. I really doubt any Mormon is going to take this seriously, but maybe you can drag bc, gd, or ldsfaqs into this.

[_Corpsegrinder]

That only goes to show that Joseph Smith was indeed a profit.

Good line.

[_Sethbag]

How do you know Joseph wasn't going to use the money to pay back Martin Harris?

[_Buffalo]

How do you know Joseph wasn't going to use the money to pay back Martin Harris?

I suppose we can't know, but Joseph didn't have the greatest track record with debt repayment.

[_Corpsegrinder]

How do you know Joseph wasn't going to use the money to pay back Martin Harris?

Good question. Did Martin Harris recoup any of the money he lost on the Book of Mormon? Do you think he might have had a case if he had tried to sue Joseph Smith for ownership of the Book of Mormon's copyright?

[_Equality]

How do you know Joseph wasn't going to use the money to pay back Martin Harris?

Good question. Did Martin Harris recoup any of the money he lost on the Book of Mormon? Do you think he might have had a case if he had tried to sue Joseph Smith for ownership of the Book of Mormon's copyright?

Only if he had filed a UCC-1.

[_Uncle Dale]

The 1830 edition identifies Joseph Smith as "author" of the Book of Mormon in not one, not two, but in three places, maybe more.

It seems that the proto-Mormons of 1830 were not much concerned with
this published attribution. But why not?

1. Because Joe slipped up, and should have only designated himself as the
"translator" in the copyright notice?

2. Because Joe had grown used to being identified as the book's "author,"
and didn't think much of the legal and literary implications?

3. Because the first Mormons WANTED to generate a controversy in the
press and in private communications, as to the book's origin?

None of these three explanations completely satisfy my interests here.
It is possible that the "Gold Bible" fraud did indeed begin as a project
in which Joe could have been fairly called an "author" -- but that it
grew into larger proportions, wherein the "author" bit was problematic.

I guess I'll have to go along with that half-baked conclusion, until some
better explanation comes along.

But -- even if we stretch logic here to the limit -- how could Joe be
called the "author" of the substantial KJV excerpts included in the
1830 volume? Even he must have realized that as a problem.

Something stinks here...

UD