I command thee that thou shalt not covet thine own property, but impart it freely to the printing

of the Book of Mormon, which contains the truth and the Word of God.

Doctrine and Covenants 1926.

Hey listeners, this is Daniel Smith from Book of Mormon Central, and today's podcast addresses

the question, why was Martin Harris needed to pay for the printing of the Book of Mormon?

In the summer of 1829, as Joseph Smith completed the translation of the Book of Mormon, he began to turn his attention to getting it printed and published to the world.

The first step was to secure the copyright by depositing the title page with the

clerk of the Northern District Court of New York, which he did on June 11, 1829, before the translation

was complete. After the translation was completed in the end of June, the next step was finding

a printer who would be willing to take on the job.

Because Martin Harris had previously agreed to help pay for the printing, he was directly

involved in the negotiations with the printer. Martin first approached E.B. Grandin, a local

Pamira printer, an editor of the Wayne Sentinel.

However, Grandin refused and attempted to persuade Martin not to mortgage his farm on what

many considered a losing speculation.

Next, Martin and Joseph approached Grandin's cross-town rival, Jonathan Hadley, editor of the Palmyra Freeman.

Hadley was a young upstart printing in 1829, who lacked the experience needed to do a large

print run of a sizable book like the Book of Mormon.

But Hadley may have recommended they go to Rochester and approach Thurlow Weed with whom he had previously

apprenticed with. According to accounts written by Weed decades later, Joseph first approached

weed on his own, and then he brought Martin along for a second meeting to assure Weed that

he would receive payment for the print job. Like Grandin, we'd tried to persuade Martin to

...