Abner Cole and The Reflector: Another Clue to the Timing of the 1830 Book of Mormon Printing

In January 1830, Abner Cole, publishing under the pseudonym Obediah Dogberry, pirated excerpts of the Book of Mormon in his newspaper, the Reflector. While this event has captured the attention of scholars in the past, one important bibliographic clue has remained unexplored. Cole published his newspaper in the same printshop that published the Book of Mormon. Because of this proximity, Cole’s excerpts as printed in the Reflector offer important clues (based on their type and composition) about the chronology of the Book of Mormon’s printing. Jensen / Cole and The Reflector 247 the Book of Mormon not just as a religious text, but as a material object occupying a frequently contested religious space. Robin Scott Jensen is coeditor of the third volume of the Revelations and Translations series of the Joseph Smith Papers. Robin received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history at Brigham Young University and a master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. He is currently a PhD candidate in history at the University of Utah.