Original books.
Individual histories.
Early Mormon books connect printing, religious belief, migration, commerce, and the lives of their readers. Their surviving copies reward close examination.
Descriptions and enquiries here concern actual books and the evidence they preserve. Availability, price, condition, and any restoration should be established for the particular copy being discussed.
What a useful description includes
The edition
Identify the author, full title, place, publisher or printer, and date. Compare the title page and contents with a reliable bibliographical description.
The surviving copy
Describe the binding, completeness, wear, repairs, inscriptions, and other distinguishing features. Preserve images that allow another reader to examine those particulars.
The chain of ownership
Record owners when the evidence identifies them. Keep bookplates, old catalogues, invoices, correspondence, and oral recollections distinct; each establishes something different.
John Hajicek; among the books
Since beginning his rare-book collection in 1980, John Hajicek has combined acquisition with sustained bibliographical research. He has worked full time in history and collecting since 1990 and assembled a library, archive, and museum in Independence, Missouri.
His collaboration with Peter L. Crawley, beginning in 1991, included locating rare volumes for Brigham Young University and the Church History Library. Duplicates in his own collection often helped fill institutional gaps. For him, buying, selling, identifying, and preserving a book are connected activities: an accurate description should travel with the object.