This article by Royal Skousen explores why a specific portion of the 1830 Book of Mormon was typeset using the original manuscript instead of the intended printer's manuscript. While scholars previously assumed the scribes simply fell behind schedule, Skousen provides physical evidence from the documents and historical timelines to suggest a different motive. He argues that the printer's manuscript was likely completed in haste and dispatched to Canada in early 1830 to protect the book's copyright within the British realm. During this several-week journey, the compositor continued his work in New York by temporarily switching to the original dictated text. This discovery is significant for textual criticism, as it provides researchers with two independent primary sources to help reconstruct the most accurate original reading of that specific section.
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