Stolen First Edition Book Of Mormon Recovered And Suspect Arrested

[Darren10]

MESA, Ariz. (The Blaze/AP) — Federal authorities have arrested a man in the theft of a rare first-edition copy of the Book of Mormon from a suburban Phoenix bookstore.

Mesa police said Tuesday that FBI and U.S. marshals searched the apartment of Jay Linford in Washington, D.C., and recovered the book that, according to experts, is valued at about $40,000. The owner, however, values the book much higher — at $100,000.

The edition is one of 5,000 printed in 1830 and, quite obviously, a rarity.

The owner of Rare and Out of Print Books and Art in Mesa reported the book stolen on May 28 and said it wasn’t insured. Helen Schlie says it‘s known throughout Mesa’s Mormon community that her store had an original copy.

(snip)

Police say the store owner knows Linford and he allegedly was in the store at the time of the theft. According to Reuters, Schlie is extremely hurt by the betrayal, as she had a close relationship with the man:

Schlie told Reuters on Tuesday that Linford was a “very close friend,” who in 2006 published a book of her poems and planned seven more books of her work.

“This really, really hurts my heart,” said Schlie, 88, in a brief telephone interview. “He’s the age of my grandchildren. This is very sad for me.”

Schlie, a converted Mormon, declined any additional comment.

Police say Linford is being held on $40,000 bond pending extradition to Arizona.

Not sometying you hear about everyday.

Edited June 13, 2012 by Darren10

[Kenngo1969]

He took the danged thing and kept it in his apartment. (What was he gonna do, sell it on the black market? )

P.S.: Gee, I dunno, maybe post-Hoffmann, there really is a thriving black market for "Mormonacana"!

Edited June 13, 2012 by Kenngo1969

[cinepro]

You mean they recovered what's left of it it. She was the person taking out pages from the book and selling them individually for $2500-4500 each.

http://bookofmormonpages.com/

[Kenngo1969]

You mean they recovered what's left of it it. She was the person taking out pages from the book and selling them individually for $2500-4500 each.

http://bookofmormonpages.com/

Well, let's see: I don't know how many pages there are in an 1830 Book of Mormon ... Without footnotes, whattaya think, say, 450? At $4500 a pop, that's over $2 mil total, when the value of the whole book was only $40,000. (Of course, much of the reduction in value is probably due to the missing pages, but still ...) I'd say Granny's more of a shrewd businesswoman than people are giving her credit for being. (I know, I shouldn't make light of this dear sister's plight, and I'm glad she got her book back ...) Still, I think it would've been funny if the thief had gone on Pawn Stars:

Rick Harrison: "My name's Rick, and I run this pawn shop. The thing about running a pawn shop, you never know what's gonna come through that door."

Rick Harrison: "Whaddo we got here?"

Jay Linford: "An original 1830 Book of Mormon."

Rick Harrison: "Whaddo you wanna do with it?"

Jay Linford: "I'd like to sell it."

Rick Harrison: "Wow ... I honestly have no idea what something like this would be worth. Let me call my buddy to come down here to give us an appraisal on it, OK?"

Or ...

After the above conversation had taken place except for Rick Harrison's final line, substitute the following:

Rick Harrison: "You know, Jay, I'd really like to make a deal with you on this, but honestly ... it isn't worth anything in the shape it's in, with pages missing and whatnot. Sorry we couldn't make a deal. [Extends his hand]. Thanks for coming in."

[Darren10]

Ken go & cinepro;

Good points from the both of you.

[Kenngo1969]

Ken go & cinepro;

Good points from the both of you.

Well, I'm good for comic relief, if nothing else!

[Darren10]

Kenngo;

I did laugh at a few of your comments. Thanks.

[mapman]

She takes out pages from an original Book of Mormon to make money? That makes me cringe.

[DBMormon]

How can you pay $3000 for your favorite passage if that passage is already gone?

I touched the page that touched the hand that touched the page of the great EB GRANDIN

[Darren10]

I touched the page that touched the hand that touched the page of the great EB GRANDIN

LOL!!!

[Darren10]

She takes out pages from an original Book of Mormon to make money? That makes me cringe.

Me too...sort of. While I'd personally would donate the book to the LDS Church in as complete a form as I received it, it's still her property.

[sunstoned]

A missionary companion of mine tracked out a lady (central Illinois) who refused to take a BoM because she already had one. When my companion asked to see it, she brought out a very old 1940ish Book of Mormon in very good shape. He bought it off her for $50.

He later sent it to his girl friend (I bet you can see where this is going) for safe keeping. A few months later, she met someone, and DJ him. I don't know if he ever got the book back.

[kolipoki09]

Rick Harrison: "Wow ... I honestly have no idea what something like this would be worth. Let me call my buddy to come down here to give us an appraisal on it, OK?"

You know, his Las Vegas rare book expert is a Romney . . .

And given the condition of the book as it is, with the owner tearing out pages left and right and making a huge profit out of destroying classic Americana, I wouldn't estimate the book to be worth any more than $10,000, possibly less. My inner John Hajicek screams "NOOOO!!!!" when I hear about people like Schilie.

[Darren10]

A missionary companion of mine tracked out a lady (central Illinois) who refused to take a BoM because she already had one. When my companion asked to see it, she brought out a very old 1940ish Book of Mormon in very good shape. He bought it off her for $50.

He later sent it to his girl friend (I bet you can see where this is going) for safe keeping. A few months later, she met someone, and DJ him. I don't know if he ever got the book back.

Never trust a girlfriend back home while on a mission.

[sunstoned]

Never trust a girlfriend back home while on a mission.

So true.

[Bill “Papa” Lee]

Not sometying you hear about everyday.

Was this one of many books or was the BoM the target?

[Storm Rider]

Anyone that cuts up a book of antiquity and has the temerity to sell individual pages should first have the book taken from her for abuse and then should never be allowed to own any book of any kind for their rest of the mortal existence. They have proved their complete unworthiness to ever hold another book in their hands.

[Thinking]

Anyone that cuts up a book of antiquity and has the temerity to sell individual pages should first have the book taken from her for abuse and then should never be allowed to own any book of any kind for their rest of the mortal existence. They have proved their complete unworthiness to ever hold another book in their hands.

What about the people who bought the pages?

[Storm Rider]

What about the people who bought the pages?

I feel almost as badly against them. However, one does not know when buying single pages if they came from a damaged book, an incomplete book, or what. What is crystal clear is that IF an individuals takes a complete, pristine antique book and deliberately rips pages out of it, this person commits sacrilege. This is strong language and I freely acknowledge that I am not objective in this area. I collect antique books and I love books in general. I am passionate about the written word and about books and what they mean for humanity. To consciously choose to destroy a whole book solely for the purpose of money?!? This person can hardly stoop lower in my book. They have freely entered the very dregs of society and should be treated as such.

I am almost certain that the Lord said that it was a place for murders, liars, adulterers and people who destroy books. You may take that for gospel; it is found in Mike 3:5-6.

[Aliwe]

Anyone that cuts up a book of antiquity and has the temerity to sell individual pages should first have the book taken from her for abuse and then should never be allowed to own any book of any kind for their rest of the mortal existence. They have proved their complete unworthiness to ever hold another book in their hands.

I don't see what the big deal is here. The point of owning something is you can do whatever you want to with it, as long as it doesn't harm another person. And selling pages individually benefits multiple scholars who might focus on one passage, but not another.

[blackstrap]

People are unconcerned about ancient stuff.Note how the casing stones of the Great Pyramid were removed and used for other buildings. Same with the "altar"stone from Stonehenge. Many temples anciently were built on top of older temples.It's called recycling now,green worthy actions.

[Calm]

And selling pages individually benefits multiple scholars who might focus on one passage, but not another.

Scholars aren't going to focus on one page in their research. Not when other options are involved, such as a full study of the original manuscript and printer's manuscript available. Any scholarly value of a text will be diminished by removing it from its original setting.

Splitting old books up and selling by pages is for the purpose of allowing more people to feel a connection to the history of the text, those who can't afford a first edition can manage a piece of history and generally this history gets turned into a piece of art up on the wall. I've seen it done with pages from old bibles etc. It becomes a snapshot of their experience with the text.

While something cringes in me when a perfectly healthy book is dismembered in this way for the purpose of producing keepsakes, it does spread the enjoyment and connection and in that has value.

Edited June 22, 2012 by calmoriah

[Aliwe]

People are unconcerned about ancient stuff.Note how the casing stones of the Great Pyramid were removed and used for other buildings. Same with the "altar"stone from Stonehenge. Many temples anciently were built on top of older temples.It's called recycling now,green worthy actions.

I'm thinking the world itself is unconcerned about ancient stuff. That's why I drop so much money at Lowe's trying to keep the world from recycling my house.