Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon, upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi (Inscribed presentation copy from George Q. Cannon)

Salt Lake City, UT: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1888. First Pulpit Edition. SIGNED presentation copy. xii; 623pp. Quarto [25.5 cm] Maroon cloth over boards with gilt stamped titles and blind stamped rules and decorative embellishments on the spine and covers. Floral endpapers. Extremities moderately rubbed, and with a handful of minor imperfections to the spine and boards, including two tiny pin-sized holes in the cloth along the front joint. Very light foxing to the text block edges, and a small amount of internal foxing. Several short splits in the front endpaper along the hinge, the longest measuring 1" long. Normal mild browning from aging to the pages. Text block nice and square. A very attractive copy in better than very good condition. The "pulpit" edition of the Book of Mormon, the only large-sized edition of the Book of Mormon issued in the 19th century. Flake/Draper 625.

With a presentation inscription from prominent Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spokesman George Q. Cannon on the front flyleaf: "To / Mrs. C. H. Silliman / with compliments of / George Q. Cannon / Salt Lake City / Oct. 20th 1894."

George Quayle Cannon (1827-1901), a Latter-day Saint convert and immigrant from England, arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. He became one of the most celebrated Latter-day Saints in the last half of the 19th century. Cannon was an editor and publisher, businessman, educator, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a territorial delegate in Congress, and an important counselor to church presidents Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and Lorenzo Snow as they negotiated with federal officials. One of George Q. Cannon's defining accomplishments was producing the first Hawaiian translation of the Book of Mormon alongside Native Hawaiian J.H. Napela. Furthermore, his personal writings, which include a monumental journal, represent one of the most illuminating and detailed records in Latter-day Saint history. On the day that Cannon inscribed this copy of the Book of Mormon, he wrote in his journal that he "spent the day at the office."

An important presentation copy from one of the most influential early Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint leaders.