Rare book is back in Nauvoo
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NAUVOO, Ill. — A rare copy of the Nauvoo Edition of the Book of Mormon has found its way back to Nauvoo.
Brent A. Palmer, and his wife, Karen, presented the 1840 edition to President J. Samuel Park, president of the Illinois Nauvoo Mission, during the Nauvoo Illinois Temple Open House.
"I obtained the book several years ago and recently received a strong impression that it should be returned to Nauvoo," noted Brother Palmer, who lives in Bellevue, Wash., and serves as a counselor in the Renton Washington North Stake Presidency.
In 1840, a press run of only 500 copies of the Book of Mormon was made on a press in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Church eventually purchased the same press and brought it to Nauvoo.
According to the Church, this was the first edition printed after the saints settled in Nauvoo. The Nauvoo Edition is extremely rare because of the small number of copies that were ordered.
President Park, himself a collector of rare books, was delighted to receive such a beautiful copy on behalf of the Church. "We plan to make this book part of a display in the Visitors Center here in Nauvoo as soon as we can get a proper case that will safeguard this valuable edition which has so much relevance to Nauvoo and the early saints who settled here.
"The Palmer family is very generous in sharing this edition with the many visitors who will be able to enjoy seeing it when they come to Historic Nauvoo. It will provide a renewal of their roots and help develop a feeling for the life lived here before the westward migration of the saints."
