The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon, Upon Plates taken from the Plates of Nephi

Liverpool: F.D. Richards, 1852. Third European edition, first state. Leather Bound. Good +. xii [1]-563 [1]pp. Sextodecimo [16 cm]. Full black leather with ornamental blind stamping to boards. Heavy restoration work to the spine. Blind stamped bands and title in gilt on the spine. Extremities bumped and rubbed. Front hinge cracked, with the front free endpaper, half-title and the blank page in between all partially detached. Textblock a bit wavy and very mildly foxed. Ownership mark of Peter Penfold on the front free endpaper, dated March 10th, 1865. Penfold is perhaps best known as a survivor of the 1855 wreck of the Julia Ann, a ship carrying Mormon immigrants from Australia to the United States. His detailed account of the tragedy, which resulted in five deaths, is frequently cited. Pagination for p.156 printed as p.56. Collated and complete. First British stereotyped edition, and an early printing of The Book of Mormon. This edition of the Book of Mormon is significant because the stereotype plates were used for all subsequent printings until the 1879 edition. The 1852 edition is also noteworthy due to the fact that it included two new features: the paragraphs are numbered, and chapter numbers are indicated at the inside margins of the running heads. Crawley II: 688. Flake/Draper 601.