An American-Born Faith: Writings from the First Century of Mormonism. Philadelphia Free Library Opens Rare Book Exhibition

Photographs Courtesy of the Free Library of Philadelphia

First Edition Book of Mormon

The City of Brotherly Love has opened its arms to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as our temple opens for public viewing. In honor of the temple, the Philadelphia Free Library, which is just a short walk from the temple location on Vine Street, has mounted an exhibition of historic material focusing on 19th and early 20th century writings connected with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. These rare items come from both the Free Library and the Rosenbach collections.

Among the items on display are such historical treasures as a Book of Mormon written in Hawaiian, which may be one of only 15-20 in existence, early copies of the Deseret News, a phonetic alphabet devised for non-English-speaking converts, 19th century travelers descriptions of Mormon settlements, publications documenting the range of Americans' reactions to the new faith, as well as early copies of the Book of Mormon.

Book of Mormon, Hawaiian Copy

Deseret News, February 23, 1859

The exhibition, on display at 1901 Vine Street in Philadelphia, is currently being shown and will run through February 6, 2017.

The Rare Book Department of the Philadelphia Free Library is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and may be visited at any time during those hours. At 11:00 a.m. every day, there is a guided tour of the Department's general collections. For more information on the Department, please visit this LINK .

For further reading and information surrounding the exhibition, see this ARTICLE by Kenneth Hilario of the Philadelphia Business Journal.