“Now that we own it, we want to make sure the printer’s manuscript is not just put away in a vault, but rather is made available to the public,” said Reid L. Neilson, Church historian and recorder.
The Book of Mormon printer’s manuscript, recently purchased by the Church for $35 million, can now be viewed for free by virtually anyone in the world who has a computer with an internet connection.
In cooperation with Community of Christ, the Church History Department in 2015 published the manuscript in two letterpress volumes as part of the Joseph Smith Papers project. Then, this past September, the Church announced the purchase of the manuscript from Community of Christ.
Now, the manuscript can be viewed at the Joseph Smith Papers website, www.josephsmithpapers.org.