Historical sources

Collections

𐐗𐐲𐑊𐐯𐐿𐑇𐐲𐑌𐑆

Books, journals, correspondence, and printed ephemera: encounter the alphabet through original nineteenth-century texts.

Beehive ornament, after Alfred Cornelius Howland’s title-page illustration for the Deseret Second Book — 𐐒𐐨𐐸𐐴𐑂 𐐫𐑉𐑌𐐰𐑋𐐯𐑌𐐻, after Alfred Cornelius Howland’s illustration for the title page of the *Deseret Second Book* (1868, p. 1). The original artwork was created especially for the Deseret primers.

Browse original uses of the script and documents about its history. Each document page brings together its context, images, available text files, and a reading environment.

Printed books and newspapers

Deseret First Book1868 · Primer
Deseret Second Book1868 · Primer
Book of Mormon1869 · Complete printed edition; First Nephi reader
Deseret News scripture passages1859–1860, 1864 · Newspaper printing

Journals and working records

Isaac Bullock Diary1854–1855
Bishops’ Meeting Minutes1854 · Cursive wordforms
Historical Department Office Journal1859–1869
John Lyman Smith Journal1859
Wilford Woodruff Journal1859
Thales Hastings Haskell Journal1859–1860

Manuscript scripture

New Testament Manuscript1869
Doctrine and Covenants manuscript1869 · Code names only; text file

Correspondence

The Blood Stone Letter1854 · George D. Watt to Brigham Young
Haden W. Church Letter1855 · To John Taylor
Marion J. Shelton Correspondence1859–1860

Documents about the alphabet

St. Louis Specimen1857 · Published in the Daily Missouri Democrat

Shelton–Young Letter1859 · Proposals for revising the alphabet
Orson Pratt KeyAn unsigned manuscript key and comparisons
Richards–Bancroft Letter1885 · An account of the alphabet’s history

Ephemera and later uses

Political Tickets1874, 1876 · Printed ephemera
Plan 10 From Outer Space1994 · Text file