By Jerald and Sandra Tanner

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Deseret Book Store Ordered Not to Sell Wilford Wood’s Reprint of the Book of Commandments

The following is an account of how the Mormon Church tried to prevent us from obtaining the photocopies necessary for the printing the Book of Commandments, and also how the Mormon Church is now trying to suppress Wilford Wood’s reprint of it.

About the Book of Commandments

In 1833 the Mormon Church published the revelations that had been given to the Church by Joseph Smith in a book entitled the Book of Commandments. However, the Church was unable to print as many of the Book of Commandments as they had planned because the printing press was destroyed by a mob. In 1835 the revelations were again printed, and the name of the book was changed to the Doctrine and Covenants. New revelations were added, and many of the previous revelations were revised.

The Book of Commandments contains 65 of Joseph Smith’s revelations and according to a student at Brigham Young University there have been 2,812 words changed, added, or omitted in these same revelations as published in the Doctrine and Covenants today. Because of this fact the Mormon Church Historian feared that someone would reprint the Book of Commandments and reveal the fact that these changes have been made.

A photograph of Chapter 28 of the Book of Commandments (left), compared with the same revelation, published later as section 27 of the Doctrine and Covenants (right).
Notice that over 400 words (underlined) have been added to the revelation as it appears in the Doctrine and Covenants.

David Whitmer, one of the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon, made this statement concerning the changes that have been made in the revelations:

Some of the revelations as they now appear in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants have been changed and added to. Some of the changes being of the greatest importance as the meaning is entirely changed on some very important matters; as if God had changed his mind a few years after he gave the revelations, and after having commanded his servants (as they claim) to print them in the “Book of Commandments;” . . .
(Letter written by David Whitmer, published in the
Saints’ Herald, February 5, 1887)

Poorest Reprint

In an article entitled “Mormon Bibliography,” published in the Brigham Young University Studies, Spring-Simmer 1964, Chad J. Flake of the Brigham Young University stated:

Undoubtedly the poorest reprints on Mormon subjects are those printed by the Modern Microfilm Company. Although these seem to be as expensive as any mentioned above, the quality of the printing bears no comparison. An interesting comparison can be made of two editions of the Book of Commandments. The first, published by Wilford Wood under the title Joseph Smith Begins His Work, v. 2, is an excellent reprint. The second published at approximately the same time by the Modern Microfilm Company, has pages which are completely unreadable. (Brigham Young University Studies, Spring-Summer 1964, page 242)

Because of this statement by Mr. Flake we feel that we should explain several things concerning the printing of the Book of Commandments. Actually at the time the Book of Commandments was reprinted there was no such company as the Modern Microfilm Co. In 1961 we had the Woodruff Printing Co. (a very capable printing establishment) reprint the Book of Commandments by the photo-offset method. The first 41 pages were from photocopies we obtained from the Brigham Young University, and the remaining pages were from photocopies taken from a microfilm made at the Yale University.

Now, it is true that some of the first 41 pages obtained from the Brigham Young University are not readable, as Mr. Flake has stated, however, he would have done well to explain why this is the case.

Actually, the Mormon Church did its best to keep us from reproducing this book. Mr. Flake was working in Special Collections at the Brigham Young University at the time this book was printed and is well acquainted with the facts.

Not to Be Reproduced

We are informed that the Mormon Church Historian’s Office in Salt Lake City owns at least three copies of the Book of Commandments. They apparently had Wilford Woodruff’s copy microfilmed and sent a positive copy to the Brigham Young University Library. (Wilford Woodruff was the fourth President of the Mormon Church.) Before giving this microfilm to the Brigham Young University they apparently made them promise that they would not make photocopies of it. This is obvious from a letter written from Chad J. Flake to Pauline Hancock on April 12, 1961. In this letter Mr. Flake stated:

The Wilford Woodruff copy of the Book of Commandments is at the Church Historian’s office in Salt Lake City. They allowed us to receive a copy of the film for the use of our students; however, it was with the stipulation that any reproduction would have to come through their office. (Letter from Chad J. Flake, dated April 12, 1961)

It is very obvious from this letter that the Mormon Church leaders did not want the Book of Commandments to be reprinted. Actually, the copyright had expired on this book and there was no reason why it could not be reproduced.

In a letter dated April 11, 1961, Chad J. Flake stated that the student assistants were instructed not to make photocopies on Saturdays:

Unfortunately, none of our professional staff, either in the Special Collections or Microfilm area, are on duty on Saturday; and our student assistants are instructed not to make any photocopies. (Letter dated April 11, 1961)

We visited the Brigham Young University on a Saturday prior to the time Chad J. Flake wrote this letter. If the student assistant had received the instructions that Mr. Flake speaks of, he broke the rules because he made photocopies of the first 41 pages of the Book of Commandments for us. He apparently did not realize the importance of what he was copying, for he asked us why we wanted photocopies of that old book.

When the Church Historian’s Office found out that we had obtained these photographs, they immediately sent word to the Brigham Young University to keep us from obtaining any more photocopies of these rare documents. Consequently, when we wrote to the Brigham Young University asking for the remaining pages of the Book of Commandments, Chad J. Flake answered as follows:

We are unable to send you a photocopy of the Book of Commandments. We were supplied this copy by the Church Historian’s office for the use of our patrons but not for photoduplication or other forms of publication. (Letter by Chad J. Flake, dated April 11, 1961, see below)

We appealed to William E. Berrett (Vice Administrator of the Brigham Young University), and he wrote directly to the Church Historian’s Office. In a letter dated May 5, 1961, he wrote a letter to us in which he stated that the Church Historian’s Office would “not permit” photocopies to be made of the Book of Commandments (see Mormonism—Shadow or Reality? page 70). On June 1, 1961, we wrote directly to Joseph Fielding Smith, the Church Historian, and he answered as follows:

Private records are sacred to the individual Copies of the Book of Commandments are rare. Perhaps you could obtain a copy from some book collector.

Of course, Mr. Smith knew that we would not be able to obtain an original as it would cost thousands of dollars.

The Church Historian’s Office could have provided us with nice clear photocopies, however, they were unwilling to help in any way and did everything they could to prevent the publication of the Book of Commandments.

Wilford Wood’s Reprint

Wilford Wood (this name should not be confused with the name Wilford Woodruff) has also published the Book of Commandments and the first edition of the Doctrine and Covenants (under the title of Joseph Smith Begins His Work, vol. 2) by the photo-offset method, and as Mr. Flake says, it is an excellent reprint. He has also reproduced the first edition of the Book of Mormon, under the title of Joseph Smith Begins His Work, vol. 1.

A few months after our reprint of the Book of Commandments came out, Wilford Wood published his reprint of the Book of Commandments.

The Mormon Church was apparently not as worried about his reprint as they were about ours, for the Deseret Press (the Church press) did the printing, and it was advertised in the Salt Lake papers. We tried to advertise our copy but were refused permission. One of the employees at the newspaper agency told us that the reason the book could not be advertised was that the preface we included in the front of the book was “too controversial.” He indicated the preface was controversial because it told that the revelations had been changed and that the Mormon Church had suppressed the Book of Commandments.

Since Wilford Wood’s reprint did not tell that the revelations had been changed, the Church did not try to suppress his book at that time. Instead they promoted it and allowed him to display his original copy of the Book of Commandments in the window of the Deseret Book Store (that is the Church book store). The leaders of the Mormon Church evidently felt that by using this reverse psychology they could make the Mormon people believe that they were glad that the Book of Commandments had been reprinted. Since Mr. Wood’s reprint did not tell the revelations had been changed, the Church leaders evidently felt that they were safe as long as members of the Church did not compare it with present editions of the Doctrine and Covenants. It appears, however, that members of the Church did compare the two editions and found that many changes had been made. On October 9, 1964, a man reported to us that the Deseret Book Store had refused to sell him copies of Joseph Smith Begins His Work, vols. 1 and 2. On October 10, 1964, Sandra Tanner went to the Deseret Book Store and asked the clerk concerning these books. The clerk, supposing she was a Mormon, said, “President David O. McKay won’t let us sell that anymore.” The clerk went on to say, “We’ve had several people leave the Church because of those books. The priest and ministers of the other churches are using these books to confuse people. Because of the confusion we can’t sell them anymore. President McKay has taken them out of circulation.”

On October 13, 1964, Wesley P. Walters (a minister in Illinois) wrote to the Deseret Book Store requesting copies of Joseph Smith Begins His Work, vols. 1 and 2. He had been recommending these books to libraries throughout the nation. He had informed the librarians that they could buy these books at the Deseret Book, but when he wrote to them himself they answered, “these two books are no longer available.” (See photograph below.) This letter would lead a person to believe that these books are out of print, however, this is not the case.

As we stated before, the Deseret Press (that is the Church press) did the printing on these books, however, Bookcraft distributes them. Since the Mormon Church does not own Bookcraft they will not be able to stop the circulation of these books at other stores besides the Deseret Book Store unless Wilford Wood gives his consent, or unless they buy them all up. The Modern Microfilm Co. will continue to sell them as long as they are available.

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