Book of Mormon/Translation/Method/1829-1835

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Chronology of statements regarding translation methods used for the Book of Mormon

1831

Palmyra Reflector

Harris declares, that when he acted as amanuenses, and wrote the translation, as Smith dictated, such was his fear of the Divine displeasure, that a screen (sheet) was suspended between the prophet and himself.... ^[1]

• Scribe: Martin Harris
• Curtain: Yes

1834

Mormonism Unvailed

[Martin Harris] says he wrote a considerable part of the book, as Smith dictated, and at one time the presence of the Lord was so great, that a screen was hung up between him and the Prophet; at other times the Prophet would sit in a different room, or up stairs, while the Lord was communicating to him the contents of the plates. He does not pretend that he ever saw the wonderful plates but once, although he and Smith were engaged for months in deciphering their contents. ^[2]

• Scribe: Martin Harris
• Curtain present
• Different room
• Stairs
• Plates not present

Charles Anthon, Mormonism Unvailed

This young man was placed behind a curtain, in the garret of a farm house, and, being thus concealed from view, put on the spectacles occasionally, or rather, looked through one of the glasses, decyphered the characters in the book, and, having committed some of them to paper, handed copies from behind the curtain, to those who stood on the outside. Not a word, however, was said about the plates having been decyphered "by the gift of God:' Every thing, in this way, was effected by the large pair of spectacles. ^[3]

• Scribe: Martin Harris
• Method: Nephite interpreters ("spectacles")
• Curtain: present

1842

John A. Clark, Gleanings by the Way

The way that Smith made his transcripts and transcriptions for Harris was the following. Although in the same room, a thick curtain or blanket was suspended between them, and Smith concealed behind the blanket, pretended to look through his spectacles, or transparent stones, and would then write down or repeat what he saw, which, when repeated aloud, was written down by Harris, who sat on the other side of the suspended blanket. Harris was told that it would arouse the most terrible divine displeasure, if he should attempt to draw near the sacred chest, or look at Smith while engaged in the work of decyphering the mysterious characters. This was Harris's own account of the matter to me. ^[4]

• Scribe: Martin Harris
• Curtain: present
• Method: Nephite interpreters ("spectacles"); Transparent stones

Charles Anthon, Gleanings by the Way

A young man, it seems, had been placed in the garret of a farm-house, with a curtain before him, and, having fastened the spectacles to his head, had read several pages in the golden book, and communicated their contents in writing to certain persons stationed on the outside of the curtain. He had also copied off one page of the book in the original character, which he had in like manner handed over to those who were separated from him by the curtain, and this copy was the paper which the countryman had brought with him. ^[5]

• Scribe: Martin Harris
• Curtain: present
• Method: Nephite interpreters ("spectacles")

1867

Pomeroy Tucker, Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism

Translations and interpretations were now entered upon by the prophet, and manuscript specimens of these, with some of the literally transcribed characters, were shown to people, including ministers and other gentlemen of learning and influence.... The manuscripts were in the handwriting of one Oliver Cowdery, which had been written down by him, as he and Smith declared, from the translations, word for word, as made by the latter with the aid of the mammoth spectacles or Urim and Thummim, and verbally announced by him from behind a blanket-screen drawn across a dark corner of a room at his residence-for at this time the original revelation, limiting to the prophet the right of seeing the sacred plates, had not yet been changed, and the view with the instrument used was even too brilliant for his own spiritualized eyes in the light! This was the story of the first series of translations, which was always persisted in by the few persons connected with the business at this early period of its progress. The single significance of this theory will doubtless be manifest, when the facts are stated in explanation, that Smith could not write in a legible hand, and hence an amanuensis or scribe was necessary. Cowdery had been a schoolmaster, and was the only man in the band who could make a copy for the printer. .... The work of translation this time [after the loss of the 116 pages] had been done in the recess of a dark artificial cave, which Smith had caused to be dug in the east side of the forest-hill near his residence. , .. [T]hough another version was, that the prophet continued to pursue his former mode of translating behind the curtain at his house, and only went into the cave to pay his spiritual devotions. ^[6]

• Scribe: Oliver Cowdery
• Curtain: mentioned
• Method: Nephite interpreters ("mammoth spectacles"); Urim and Thummim

1870

Elizabeth Ann Whitmer Cowdery

"I cheerfully certify that I was familiar with the manner of Joseph Smith's translating the book of Mormon. He translated the most of it at my Father's house. And I often sat by and saw and heard them translate and write for hours together. Joseph never had a curtain drawn between him and his scribe while he was translating. He would place the director in his hat, and then place his [face in his] hat, so as to exclude the light, and then [read] to his scribe the words as they appeared before him." ^[7]

• Scribe: Unknown
• Curtain: Denied that a curtain had been used.
• Method: A "director" was placed in a hat.

Where this may tell us more than it says is the specific statement that "Joseph never had a curtain drawn between him and his scribe while he was translating." The statement made by Elizabeth virtually requires that there be a story in current circulation that there was a curtain, and that this statement was made to counter that story. This indicates that among the Saints there may have been two versions circulating and that there was no clear understanding about which was the accurate picture. Therefore, Elizabeth wanted to clarify the account based on her experience.

I staid in Richmond two days and nights. I had a great deal of talk with widow Cowdry, and her amiable daughter. She is married to a Dr Johnson, but has no children. She gave me a certificate, And this is the copy. "Richmond, Ray Co., Mo. Feb 15, 1870--I cheerfully certify that I was familiar with the manner of Joseph Smith's translating the book of Mormon. He translated the most of it at my Father's house. And I often sat by and saw and heard them translate and write for hours together. Joseph never had a curtain drawn between him and his scribe while he was translating. He would place the director in his hat, and then place his face in his hat, so as to exclude the light, and then [read the words?] as they appeared before him: ^[8]

• Scribe: Unknown
• Curtain: Not mentioned
• Method: A "director" was placed in a hat.

1877

Detroit Post and Tribune

As he claimed to be the author of the "Book of Mormon" his story was that by the aid of his wonderful stone he found gold plates on which were inscribed the writings in hieroglyphics. He translated them by means of a pair of magic spectacles which the Lord delivered to him at the same time that the golden tablets were turned up. But nobody but Joe himself ever saw the golden tablets or the far-seeing spectacles. He dictated the book, concealed behind a curtain, and it was written down by Cowdery. This course seemed to be rendered necessary by the fact that Joe did not know how to write. ^[9]

• Scribe: Oliver Cowdery
• Curtain: Mentioned
• Method: Nephite interpreters ("magic spectacles," "far-seeing spectacles")

1888

W.R. Hine, Naked Truths about Mormonism

Soon I learned that Jo claimed to be translating the plates in Badger's Tavern, in Colesville, three miles from my house. I went there and saw Jo Smith sit by a table and put a handkerchief to his forehead and peek into his hat and call out a word to Cowdery, who sat at the same table and wrote it down. Several persons sat near the same table and there was no curtain between them. ^[10]

• Scribe: Oliver Cowdery
• Curtain: Stated that there was no curtain
• Method: Hat

Endnotes

1. [note] Gold Bible, No.6; Reflector, March 19, 1831, 126
2. [note] Howe, Mormonism Unvailed 14, 77, 100. Based on reports by Doctor Philastus Hurlbut
3. [note] Howe, Mormonism Unvailed 270-1. Here, Howe reprints a letter, dated February 17, 1834, written by Charles Anthon
4. [note] John A. Clark, Gleanings By the Way (Philadelphia: W J. and J. K. Simon, 1842), 224, 228, 230-31; part of this chapter on the Mormons appeared as a letter in the Episcopal Recorder 18 (1846): 94. This interview was also reprinted in "Modern Superstition.-The Mormonites.-No. I;' Visitor, or Monthly Instructor (1841): 62, 63-64.
5. [note] Charles Anthon to Reverend T.W. Coit April 3, 1841, in Clark, Gleanings By the Way, 234-35.
6. [note] Pomeroy Tucker, Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism (New York: D. Appleton, 1867), 29-49
7. [note] Elizabeth Ann Whitmer Cowdery, "Elizabeth Ann Whitmer Cowdery Affidavit, 15 February 1870," in Early Mormon Documents, ed. Dan Vogel, 5 vols. (Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books, 1870), 5:260.
8. [note] William E. McLellin to "My Dear Friends;' February 1870, Community of Christ Library-Archives; cited in Cook, David Whitmer Interviews, 233-34. Elizabeth Whitmer, born in 1815, was the daughter of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Whitmer (and the sister of David Whitmer). She was fourteen years old when the translation was completed at her parents' home in Fayette, New York. She married Oliver Cowdery in 1832.
9. [note] "Joe Smith, Something about the Early Life of the Mormon prophet;' Detroit Post and Tribune, December 3, 1877, 3; cited in Vogel, Early Mormon Documents, 2:517, 520. John Gilbert (1802-95) was principal typesetter and proofreader when the Book of Mormon was printed in 1829-30.
10. [note] W. R. Hine's Statement, Naked Truths about Mormonism 1 (January 1888) 2.