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:<small>— Thomas W. Mackay, "Mormon as Editor: A Study in Colophons, Headers, and Source Indicators," ''Journal of Book of Mormon Studies'' 2:2 (1993): 90-109.</small> | :<small>— Thomas W. Mackay, "Mormon as Editor: A Study in Colophons, Headers, and Source Indicators," ''Journal of Book of Mormon Studies'' 2:2 (1993): 90-109.</small> | ||
− | Such colophons can be seen throughout the Book of Mormon—in the English scriptures, they are the italicized portions which precede the chapter heading at the beginning of 1 and 2 Nephi, Jacob, Alma, Helaman, 3 and 4 Nephi, and Ether. Mosiah is the only large book without such an introduction. The books of Mormon and Moroni have no colophons, but they are the editors and authors throughout the abridgement, and so have already "given" their colophons initially, as well as identified themselves throughout the text. It's another subtle but authentic touch that no one of Joseph Smith's day knew anything about, or remarked upon until our century. | + | Such colophons can be seen throughout the Book of Mormon—in the English scriptures, they are the italicized portions which precede the chapter heading at the beginning of [http://scriptures.lds.org/1_ne/1 1] and [http://scriptures.lds.org/2_ne/1 2 Nephi], [http://scriptures.lds.org/jacob/1 Jacob], [http://scriptures.lds.org/alma/1 Alma], [http://scriptures.lds.org/hel/1 Helaman], [http://scriptures.lds.org/3_ne/1 3] and [http://scriptures.lds.org/4_ne/1 4 Nephi], and [http://scriptures.lds.org/ether/1 Ether]. [http://scriptures.lds.org/mosiah/1 Mosiah] is the only large book without such an introduction. The books of Mormon and Moroni have no colophons, but they are the editors and authors throughout the abridgement, and so have already "given" their colophons initially, as well as identified themselves throughout the text. It's another subtle but authentic touch that no one of Joseph Smith's day knew anything about, or remarked upon until our century. |
The lack of a colophon for Mosiah is not surprising, since the first two 'chapters' of Mosiah were part of the lost 116 pages. | The lack of a colophon for Mosiah is not surprising, since the first two 'chapters' of Mosiah were part of the lost 116 pages. |
This page is based on an answer to a question submitted to the FAIR web site, or a frequently asked question.
Mr. Nemelka claims to have been commanded to tranlate the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon, as well as the lost 116 pages. What can you tell me about this?
As part of his 'prophetic call,' Nemelka produced what he claims is a translation of the lost 116 pages, or "Book of Lehi." This portion of Mormon's abridgement (from Lehi to King Benjamin, roughly) was lost by Martin Harris after the manuscript was loaned to him by Joseph Smith (See D&C 3, D&C 10).
Nemelka's decision to produce the "Book of Lehi" was unwise, since his claims about it can be easily checked against what is known about Joseph Smith's translation of the same material.
There are two extant Book of Mormon manuscripts. The original, dictated by Joseph Smith to his scribes, was probably about 480 pages long; we have fragments from 236 of these pages. A copy was made of the original manuscript—the so-called "printer's manuscript"—and is completely extant save three lines on the first page. This version occupied 464 manuscript pages. Thus, the two manuscript lengths agree within 3-4%.
A computerized count of the original 1830 publication of the Book of Mormon yields 270,745 words. Thus, each original manuscript page would have held about 564 words; the printer's manuscript about 583.
Nemelka's "Book of Lehi" contains 26,709 words when the italicized chapter summaries are excluded. Dividing by 116 pages, we get 230 words per page. The "Book of Lehi" seems, therefore, to contain only about 41% (at best) of the material which one would expect.
Mr. Nemelka includes an introduction to his "translation" of the "Book of Lehi", in which he indicates that
Unfortunately for his plan to produce the 116 pages, Nemelka has his details wrong. The paper was folded either lengthwise or widthwise before being written on. Both methods were used during the Book of Mormon translation, though widthwise was more common.
This discrepancy demonstrates that Nemelka is missing at least half of the material that should be present. One might not expect his translation to match Joseph Smith's word-for-word, but the Book of Mormon text produced by Joseph is not so wordy that one could simply eliminate over half of it and retain the same meaning. Mr. Nemelka has underestimated how much material he needed to produce, and so his work is revealed for what it is—an amateurish forgery.
Hugh Nibley was the first to note that the Book of Mormon contains "colophons." As one review explained:
Such colophons can be seen throughout the Book of Mormon—in the English scriptures, they are the italicized portions which precede the chapter heading at the beginning of 1 and 2 Nephi, Jacob, Alma, Helaman, 3 and 4 Nephi, and Ether. Mosiah is the only large book without such an introduction. The books of Mormon and Moroni have no colophons, but they are the editors and authors throughout the abridgement, and so have already "given" their colophons initially, as well as identified themselves throughout the text. It's another subtle but authentic touch that no one of Joseph Smith's day knew anything about, or remarked upon until our century.
The lack of a colophon for Mosiah is not surprising, since the first two 'chapters' of Mosiah were part of the lost 116 pages.
Mr. Nemelka betrays himself here by being almost "too clever." He properly includes a colophon at the beginning of his Book of Lehi (imitating, perhaps, 1 Nephi's beginning). But, by the time he has reached the end of his "translation," he has forgotten (if he ever knew) that he needed a Book of Mosiah division with its own colophon.
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