In this new Cornucopia column, Curt Bench, owner and operator of Benchmark Books (www.benchmarkbooks.com), a specialty bookstore in Salt Lake City that focuses primarily on used and rare Mormon books, will tell stories—both humorous and appalling—from his 35-plus years in the LDS book business.
During my long career dealing in LDS books, manuscripts, collectibles of all kinds, and even kitsch, I have seen or participated in more than my share of unusual, strange, funny, and exciting events. And I have seen some wonderful, thrilling, and even humorous books, documents, and other items come through my store. These experiences and cultural pieces have truly made my life in Mormon books an adventure.
A good starting point is the tale of two of the more unusual copies of the 1830 Book of Mormon that have come through my store. The 1830 edition is the first edition and is, as you can imagine, a very valuable and highly collectible book.
The first story took place two years ago. We acquired from a public library in Michigan an 1830 Book of Mormon that had for many years been accessible to patrons in the open stacks of books. Eventually, when someone realized its immense monetary value, it was locked away but regrettably not before someone had marked it up in pencil. We don’t know who wrote the comments found in the book—whether a nineteenth-century owner of the book or one of the library’s patrons. Whoever it was, we have the strong impression that this person wasn’t very fond of the Mormons. On the page containing the testimony of the eight Book of Mormon witnesses and the unknown commentator drew a bracket next to the names of the four Whitmers and labeled them “Fools.” The three Smiths fared worse: they were deemed “Rascals.” Only Hiram Page escaped judgment.
The second story involves a first-edition Book of Mormon that a couple from New Mexico brought in to sell. This copy had belonged to a member of their ward who had purchased it at a flea market. This couple was at a ward picnic when they noticed the man reading an old book. They asked what the book was, and when he told them it was an 1830 Book of Mormon, they inquired whether he would be willing to sell it to them. He said he would, but he wanted to finish reading it first. Even after being told the book was valuable, the man said he had bought it cheap and didn’t want to make money on the deal.
Ultimately, they negotiated a modest price, and taking the book from him, the couple began thumbing through it. As they did, they were horrified to see many passages underlined in blue ballpoint pen. When they asked the man about the markings, he replied that he had underlined his favorite scriptures while reading it. When this couple told me this story over the phone, I gasped aloud. When they brought it in and showed it to me, I thought I was going to be sick. Page after page of blue, underlined passages in a first edition of the Book of Mormon! Needless to say, this copy didn’t fetch as high a price as it would have had this good brother had chosen to do his scripture study in a paperback missionary edition.
