On 2 April 1841, the apostles voted that Young, Kimball, and Pratt “settle the financial or business matters” related to the publishing of the Book of Mormon in consultation with JS, “to whom the profits rightly belong.” (Woodruff, Journal, 2 Apr. 1841; Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Minutes, 2 Apr. 1841.)

Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Minutes, 1840–1844. CHL.

In 1835 Fazakerley opened a bookbinding shop in Liverpool. He was contracted to bind the British printing of the Book of Mormon. (“Death of Mr. Thomas Fazakerley,” Millennial Star, 27 May 1889, 51:333–334; “Our Portrait Gallery: No. 15—John Fazakerley,” 57.)

Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.

“Our Portrait Gallery: No. 15—John Fazakerley.” British Bookmaker 5, no. 51 (Sept. 1891): 57–58.

Morocco leather is a fine leather made from tanned goatskins. Copies of the 1841 Book of Mormon in Morocco leather sold for nine shillings retail. (“Leather,” in Ure, Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines, 768–769; Stocks, “Book of Mormon,” 73.)

Ure, Andrew. A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines: Containing a Clear Exposition of Their Principles and Practice. 2nd ed. London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1840.

Stocks, Hugh G. “The Book of Mormon, 1830–1879: A Publishing History.” Master’s thesis, University of California at Los Angeles, 1979.

Calfskin was a widely used leather in nineteenth-century bookbinding. (“Calf,” in American Dictionary of Printing and Bookmaking, 76–77.)

Pasko, Wesley Washington. American Dictionary of Printing and Bookmaking, Containing a History of These Arts in Europe and America, with Definitions of Technical Terms and Biographical Sketches. New York: Howard Lockwood, 1894. As excerpted in Richard-Gabriel Rummonds, Nineteenth-Century Printing Practices and the Iron Handpress, 2 vols. (New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 2004).

Sheepskin was a commonly used leather in nineteenth-century bookbinding. It was frequently used for “small and cheap Bibles and cheap account-books.” It was cost effective, but it also tended to “break sooner than goat-skin or cowhide.” Copies of the 1841 Book of Mormon in sheepskin sold for five shillings retail. (“Leather,” and “Sheep,” in American Dictionary of Printing and Bookmaking, 334, 506; “List of Publications,” Millennial Star, June 1841, 2:32; “Notices,” Millennial Star, Aug. 1842, 3:80; Stocks, “Book of Mormon,” 73.)

Pasko, Wesley Washington. American Dictionary of Printing and Bookmaking, Containing a History of These Arts in Europe and America, with Definitions of Technical Terms and Biographical Sketches. New York: Howard Lockwood, 1894. As excerpted in Richard-Gabriel Rummonds, Nineteenth-Century Printing Practices and the Iron Handpress, 2 vols. (New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 2004).

Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.

Stocks, Hugh G. “The Book of Mormon, 1830–1879: A Publishing History.” Master’s thesis, University of California at Los Angeles, 1979.

It is possible that four shillings sixpence was the wholesale cost for sheepskin copies of the Book of Mormon, while the resale cost of the books was advertised as five shillings. (Stocks, “Book of Mormon,” 73.)

Stocks, Hugh G. “The Book of Mormon, 1830–1879: A Publishing History.” Master’s thesis, University of California at Los Angeles, 1979.

“£.,” “s.,” and “d.” are abbreviations derived from the Latin monetary denominations of librae, solidi, and denarii. In the United Kingdom, they represented pounds, shillings, and pence, respectively. (Martin and Graves, Pounds, Shillings and Pence, x.)

Martin, T., and John Thomas Graves. Pounds, Shillings, and Pence; or, A Series of Money Calculations on a Novel System; Illustrated by Examples Shewing the Method of Performing Them in the Mind, with Less Than One Fourth of the Usual Labour. London: Simpkin, Marshall, 1842.

According to these numbers, Comer had sold approximately eighty-eight copies of the 1841 edition of the Book of Mormon.

According to these numbers, Fielding had sold approximately twenty-six copies of the 1841 edition of the Book of Mormon.

According to these numbers, Taylor had sold sixty-six copies of the 1841 edition of the Book of Mormon.

According to these numbers, Fielding had sold approximately forty-four copies of the 1841 edition of the Book of Mormon.

According to these numbers, Pratt had sold approximately eighty-eight copies of the 1841 edition of the Book of Mormon.

According to these numbers, Pratt had sold approximately eighty-three copies of the 1841 edition of the Book of Mormon on behalf of the Millennial Star, probably through advertisements.

According to these numbers, Armstrong had sold approximately seventy-five copies of the 1841 edition of the Book of Mormon.

These numbers account for the money yielded from the sale of 473 copies of the 1841 edition of the Book of Mormon at four shillings sixpence per book. The numbers do not add up perfectly, suggesting that the missionaries who sold copies of the book did not strictly adhere to the rate of four shillings and sixpence per copy.