A Textual History of the Book of Abraham: Manuscripts and Editions

by Brian M. Hauglid

Overview

In July 1835 at Kirtland Ohio, a traveling antiquities dealer brought to Joseph Smith, the Mormon Prophet, four Egyptian mummies and several rolls of papyri. Upon inspection Smith determined that one of the rolls contained a lost record of the patriarch Abraham. After purchasing these artifacts for $2400 Smith generated through translation five chapters that appeared during March 1842 in Nauvoo, Illinois in the Times and Seasons, a Mormon periodical, under the title “The Book of Abraham”. This book has since become a canonized text of scripture for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

A Textual History of the Book of Abraham: Manuscripts and Editions serves as a source book for interested researchers and scholars. It includes a brief introduction to the Book of Abraham and a detailed record of textual variants from the time it first appeared in the Times and Seasons until its latest edition (1981). This volume also produces for the first time typographic transcriptions with facing grayscale images of the surviving handwritten manuscripts of the Book of Abraham. Several appendices offer additional helpful resources such as contemporary accounts related to the translation of the Book of Abraham and a full set of color high-res images of the surviving Abraham manuscripts. This book will be a valuable reference tool for scholars interested in researching the textual history of the Book of Abraham

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780842527743
Publisher:	Brigham Young University
Publication date:	04/15/2011
Series:	Studies in the Book of Abraham
Pages:	307
Product dimensions:	8.70(w) x 11.30(h) x 1.00(d)

Table of Contents

Preface
About the Author
Acknowledgements
History of the Book of Abraham

Historical Text of the Book of Abraham
    Abraham 1
    Abraham 2
    Abraham 3
    Abraham 4
    Abraham 5
    Facsimile 1
    Facsimile 2
    Facsimile 3
Book of Abraham Transcripts: Manuscripts 1–7
    Symbols Used in the Transcriptions
    Book of Abraham Manuscript 1 (Ab1)
    Book of Abraham Manuscript 2 (Ab2)
    Book of Abraham Manuscript 3 (Ab3)
    Book of Abraham Manuscript 4 (Ab4)
    Book of Abraham Manuscript 5 (Ab5 and Ab5a)
    Book of Abraham Manuscript 6 (Ab6)
    Book of Abraham Manuscript 7 (Ab7)
    Transcript of William I. Appleby’s Journal Entry, 5 May 1941 (WA)

Appendices
    Appendix 1: Book of Abraham Translation and Publication Timeline
    Appendix 2: The Book for Abraham and the Egyptian Manuscripts
    Appendix 3: Complete Color Images of the Book of Abraham Manuscripts 1–7
    and of the Lead Plates for Facsimiles 1–3
    Appendix 4: Images of Appleby’s Journal Entry, 5 May 1841
    Appendix 5: Images of Talmage’s 1888 Edition of the Book of Abraham
About the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship