Other editions have been printed since 1830
- 1830 first edition
- 1837 Kirtland, grammar changes -- see text in Joseph Smith Papers
- 1840 Nauvoo, corrections from printer’s manuscript -- see text in Joseph Smith Papers
- 1841 Liverpool, same as 1837 but with British spellings -- see text in Joseph Smith Papers
- 1849 Liverpool, with some Orson Pratt edits
- 1852 Liverpool, with some edits and paragraph numbers by FD Richards
- 1854 Liverpool
- 1874 Plano, Illinois RLDS
- 1892 Lamoni, Iowa RLDS
- 1958 New York
- 1871 SLC
- 1874 SLC
- 1874 Iowa RLDS
- 1879 SLC, Edits by Orson Pratt, divided long chapters, made verses and footnotes
- 1879 Liverpool
- 1883 Liverpool
- 1885 SLC
- 1892 Iowa RLDS
- 1900 Iowa RLDS
- 1902 Kansas City
- 1905 Edits by Talmage
- 1907 SLC
- 1908 SLC
- 1908 Iowa RLDS
- 1908 Chicago
- 1910 Chicago
- 1911 Chicago
- 1911 Edits by Talmage
- 1917 Iowa RLDS
- 1918 SLC
- 1920 SLC edits by James E Talmage, double columns chapter summaries and new footnotes
- 1966 RLDS with modernized text
- 1981 SLC
- 2013 SLC
An original 1830 edition, on display in the Dartmouth College Library, Hanover, New Hampshire
Photo Credit Beverly Neville
Which Edition does the Museum of the Book of Mormon Use?
Some people are not aware there are various editions of the Book of Mormon in use today.
The first edition printed in 1830 was divided into chapters and paragraphs but not numbered verses. This format was retained in the 1837 and 1840 editions revised by Joseph Smith, Jr.
When they prepared their edition, the RLDS church used those same chapters but inserted numbered verses. They made other edits in 1874, 1917 and 1966, but retained the same chapter and verse divisions in the Revised Authorized Version in use today by the Community of Christ.
Orson Pratt made many changes for an 1879 edition in Salt Lake City, dividing the original long chapters into smaller chapters and creating short numbered verses. He also added many explanatory footnotes. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has made various edits over the years but still uses the chapter and verse format created by Orson Pratt.
As a result, these two religious groups who cite Book of Mormon scriptures today refer to different chapters and verses. The Museum’s editorial policy is to give scripture citations for both editions, noting them as [LDS] and [RLDS], the most common notation styles currently in use.
For example, Nephi’s famous declaration, “I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded . . .” is found in 1 Nephi 3:7 [LDS] and 1 Nephi 1:65 [RLDS].