The Book of Mormon. Translated by Joseph Smith, Jr. Reprinted from the Third American edition, carefully revised by the translator

New York: Jas. O. Wright & Company, 1858. Fifth American printing. Hardcover. Good. xix; 380pp. Octavo [20 cm] Embossed brown cloth over boards. Title in faded gilt on the spine. Ex-library, with the usual markings, including library numbers on the spine, and stamps, pocket, and labels to the endpapers and preliminary pages, and a couple of blind stamps within. Spine frail. Underlying boards exposed along the edges. Lengthy article about Joseph Smith mounted to front endpaper. Periodic internal foxing. Despite its worn exterior, the book is very sturdy. A first edition of the James Wright edition, sometimes known as the "pirated" Book of Mormon. The James Wright edition was the first unauthorized version of the Book of Mormon. A mostly faithful reprinting of the third American edition (Nauvoo - 1840). Wright printed the work not so much to promote faith, but for profit. After the 1842 Nauvoo edition, there was not another LDS-sanctioned edition printed in the United States until the Salt Lake edition of 1871. Wright's two editions are the only 19th-century Books of Mormon not printed by the LDS or RLDS churches.

According to Morgan: "This is one of the more curious editions of the 'Book of Mormon.' The copyright on the book being expired, and public attention being focused on Utah in consequence of the Utah Expedition, the James O. Wright firm in New York late in 1858 undertook to place on the market a commercial edition, with an introduction which set forth both Mormon and non-Mormon versions of its origin. The printing was a reasonably faithful one, and the Utah Church at least was pleased." Flake/Draper 604. Morgan III:74.