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Cry Me a River Sidon: Rare First Edition of Book of Mormon Stolen--One from Which the Owner Had Been Cutting Out Pages and Selling Off, Page by Page . . .
I know the owner of the bookstore mentioned in the article excerpted below, Helen Schlie. When I was in more regular contact with her several years ago, she owned a cluttered Mormon-merchandizing bookstore in Mesa, Arizona, not far from the LDS temple, and I would go there on occasion to buy books from her. We'd sit around and chat in her store. She was a friendly and interesting person who seemed (at least to me) to be something less than, um, a traditionally devout Mormon believer.
Helen made a name for herself a few years back by taking her own first-edition copy of the Book of Mormon and proceeding to sell off, page by page, portions of its contents--cutting the actual pages out of the book and releasing them to interested buyers for a pricey sum. (That sales technique of hers became a topic on RfM when that rather bizarre story first broke).
Now, that original edition of the Book of Mormon (at least what's left of it) has been stolen, and Helen is bemoaning its loss (one which Helen mournfully claims is embedded with Joseph Smith's DNA, which she was sharing with her page-paying customers). Boo-hoo. Sorry, but I really can't bring myself to muster up much sympathy:
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"For years, Mormon missionaries would come to Helen Schlie's bookstore to have their pictures taken with a first-edition copy of the Book of Mormon.
"Some missionaries would cry as they touched the rare book, one of 5,000 printed in 1830 after Joseph Smith found the gold plates that he translated into the Book of Mormon, which members of the faith consider to be scripture alongside the Bible.
"'I tell people they are sharing their DNA with Joseph Smith himself,' said Schlie, 88, a Mormon convert who bought the book in the late 1960s from a man so desperate for money that he was willing to sell a family heirloom.
"Sometime over the Memorial Day weekend the book was stolen from Schlie's crowded shop, 'Rare and Out of Print Books and Art,' and now it is Schlie who is desperate to get it back.
"When she discovered the book was missing Monday, 'it really hurt my heart,' Schlie said. 'I'm hoping someone will bring it back, let it finish its mission.' . . .
"Schlie said the fact that she owned an original Book of Mormon was well-known within the Mormon community locally and that hundreds of people have stopped by the bookstore . . . to see it.
"Schlie said she discovered the theft when two young women, Mormon missionaries from Asia, stopped by about Monday afternoon to have their pictures taken with the book.
"The last time Schlie and her assistant . . . saw the book was at 7 p.m. Friday, when they placed it in a fireproof box and set that in an unlocked filing cabinet. . . .
"Schlie valued the book at $100,000 when she reported it stolen. She said the book was not insured.
"In 2005, Schlie became somewhat of a controversial figure among members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when she announced plans to sell pages from the book for $2,500 to $4,000 apiece. She estimated she has sold 40 of the book's 588 pages, each mounted in a wooden frame.
"Some critics consider divvying up the book as sacrilegious or disrespectful of its history. But Schlie and one of her customers, Gary Hyde, a winter resident of Mesa, said the LDS Church gave its blessing to the project, viewing it as a way of strengthening people's faith.
"Hyde said his page is an effective teaching tool in his missionary work, which is appropriate because his page contains a passage about the importance of missionary work.
"'Oh my goodness,' said Hyde, when he learned about the theft. He said that grasping the book at Schlie's store was a very personal and powerful religious experience for many people.
"'Just to have it in their hands brings a little bit of inspiration to them,' Hyde said. 'This is one of the original Books of Mormon, and they feel the spirit.'
"Although the book is now missing, the pages that Schlie sold are still touching many people, he said.
"'I use it in various testimonies. I put the page to good work,' Hyde said.
"Cindy Packard, an LDS spokeswoman in the Valley, said she had no comment on the theft, but that the Book of Mormon is considered to be another testimony of Jesus Christ by church members and has equal standing with the Bible.
"David LeSueur, another church spokesman, said in a statement, 'I hope whoever took it reads it, ponders it carefully and returns it.'"
("First-edition Book of Mormon Stolen from Ariz. Store," by Jim Walsh, "The Arizona Republic," at; http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-05-31/Book-of-Mormon-stolen/55305254/1)
_____
Let's hope that Helen soon recovers that special Book of Mormon so that she can ge back to cutting out more of its precious pages and selling them off, one by one, as testimony-amplifying artifacts to grateful Mormons willing to cough up the asking price.
Geezus.
http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,517751,517751#msg-517751
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/2012 01:40PM by steve benson.
I know the owner of the bookstore mentioned in the article excerpted below, Helen Schlie. When I was in more regular contact with her several years ago, she owned a cluttered Mormon-merchandizing bookstore in Mesa, Arizona, not far from the LDS temple, and I would go there on occasion to buy books from her. We'd sit around and chat in her store. She was a friendly and interesting person who seemed (at least to me) to be something less than, um, a traditionally devout Mormon believer.
Helen made a name for herself a few years back by taking her own first-edition copy of the Book of Mormon and proceeding to sell off, page by page, portions of its contents--cutting the actual pages out of the book and releasing them to interested buyers for a pricey sum. (That sales technique of hers became a topic on RfM when that rather bizarre story first broke).
Now, that original edition of the Book of Mormon (at least what's left of it) has been stolen, and Helen is bemoaning its loss (one which Helen mournfully claims is embedded with Joseph Smith's DNA, which she was sharing with her page-paying customers). Boo-hoo. Sorry, but I really can't bring myself to muster up much sympathy:
_____
"For years, Mormon missionaries would come to Helen Schlie's bookstore to have their pictures taken with a first-edition copy of the Book of Mormon.
"Some missionaries would cry as they touched the rare book, one of 5,000 printed in 1830 after Joseph Smith found the gold plates that he translated into the Book of Mormon, which members of the faith consider to be scripture alongside the Bible.
"'I tell people they are sharing their DNA with Joseph Smith himself,' said Schlie, 88, a Mormon convert who bought the book in the late 1960s from a man so desperate for money that he was willing to sell a family heirloom.
"Sometime over the Memorial Day weekend the book was stolen from Schlie's crowded shop, 'Rare and Out of Print Books and Art,' and now it is Schlie who is desperate to get it back.
"When she discovered the book was missing Monday, 'it really hurt my heart,' Schlie said. 'I'm hoping someone will bring it back, let it finish its mission.' . . .
"Schlie said the fact that she owned an original Book of Mormon was well-known within the Mormon community locally and that hundreds of people have stopped by the bookstore . . . to see it.
"Schlie said she discovered the theft when two young women, Mormon missionaries from Asia, stopped by about Monday afternoon to have their pictures taken with the book.
"The last time Schlie and her assistant . . . saw the book was at 7 p.m. Friday, when they placed it in a fireproof box and set that in an unlocked filing cabinet. . . .
"Schlie valued the book at $100,000 when she reported it stolen. She said the book was not insured.
"In 2005, Schlie became somewhat of a controversial figure among members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when she announced plans to sell pages from the book for $2,500 to $4,000 apiece. She estimated she has sold 40 of the book's 588 pages, each mounted in a wooden frame.
"Some critics consider divvying up the book as sacrilegious or disrespectful of its history. But Schlie and one of her customers, Gary Hyde, a winter resident of Mesa, said the LDS Church gave its blessing to the project, viewing it as a way of strengthening people's faith.
"Hyde said his page is an effective teaching tool in his missionary work, which is appropriate because his page contains a passage about the importance of missionary work.
"'Oh my goodness,' said Hyde, when he learned about the theft. He said that grasping the book at Schlie's store was a very personal and powerful religious experience for many people.
"'Just to have it in their hands brings a little bit of inspiration to them,' Hyde said. 'This is one of the original Books of Mormon, and they feel the spirit.'
"Although the book is now missing, the pages that Schlie sold are still touching many people, he said.
"'I use it in various testimonies. I put the page to good work,' Hyde said.
"Cindy Packard, an LDS spokeswoman in the Valley, said she had no comment on the theft, but that the Book of Mormon is considered to be another testimony of Jesus Christ by church members and has equal standing with the Bible.
"David LeSueur, another church spokesman, said in a statement, 'I hope whoever took it reads it, ponders it carefully and returns it.'"
("First-edition Book of Mormon Stolen from Ariz. Store," by Jim Walsh, "The Arizona Republic," at; http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-05-31/Book-of-Mormon-stolen/55305254/1)
_____
Let's hope that Helen soon recovers that special Book of Mormon so that she can ge back to cutting out more of its precious pages and selling them off, one by one, as testimony-amplifying artifacts to grateful Mormons willing to cough up the asking price.
Geezus.
http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,517751,517751#msg-517751
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/2012 01:40PM by steve benson.
It wouldn't surprise me if the church stole it. They've done worse.
I'm sure they were appalled by the way it was being handled. It would all be justified as saving a piece of their history or whatever. It's probably sitting in a locked room full of stuff the world will never see because the church needs to hide its deeds.
I'm sure they were appalled by the way it was being handled. It would all be justified as saving a piece of their history or whatever. It's probably sitting in a locked room full of stuff the world will never see because the church needs to hide its deeds.