Doctrine and Covenants 14 to 17 – “Stand as a Witness”

As Joseph Smith came to the end of translating the Book of Mormon, other men were chosen to be witnesses of the plates and divine nature of the book. Mary Whitmer also received a heavenly visitor, who showed her the plates.

“Mary Whitmer and Moroni: Experiences of an Artist in Creating a Historical Painting,” Robert T. Pack, BYU Studies Quarterly 58, no. 4

Robert Pack studied the history of Mary Whitmer being shown the golden plates by a heavenly visitor and created a painting to depict it. This article tells Mary’s story and the research Pack did on the historical setting and environment. Click on the PDF to view the beautiful painting.

“Securing the Book of Mormon Copyright in 1829,” Nathaniel Hinckley Wadsworth, Sustaining the Law: Joseph Smith’s Legal Encounters, also published in BYU Studies 45, no. 3.

In the summer of 1829, Joseph Smith completed his translation of the Book of Mormon. He was determined to not lose the work, and so on June 11, 1829, Joseph submitted a legal document to the clerk of the Northern District Court of New York: a single printed page that resembled what would become the title page of the 1830 Book of Mormon. Thus he secured the copyright. This article tells of the events and laws surrounding the original copyright of the Book of Mormon.

“Timing the Translation of the Book of Mormon: “Days [and Hours] Never to Be Forgotten,” John W. Welch, BYU Studies Quarterly 57, no. 4

This article suggests a day by day schedule of events in June 1829, as Joseph Smith finished the translation, called the three and eight witnesses, and secured the copyright of the Book of Mormon.

“The Testimony of Men”: William E. McLellin and the Book of Mormon Witnesses,” Mitchel K. Schaefer, BYU Studies Quarterly 50, no. 1

In 1871, William McLellin wrote about his contacts with the three and eight witnesses of the Book of Mormon. This article provides the pertinent excerpt (two pages) from McLellin’s notebook, telling of how the witnesses were persecuted for their testimonies but never relented.