On page 135 of ‘Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith’ (Salt Lake City, 2007), we read: ‘In the late summer of 1829, Joseph Smith, Martin Harris, and several others gathered at the printing shop to inspect the proof of the title page of the Book of Mormon, the first page of the book to be printed. When the Prophet declared that he was pleased with the appearance of the page, the printing went forward as quickly as possible. ‘

If Joseph Smith was ‘pleased with the appearance of the page, ‘ did he think it was right for the title page to describe himself as ‘author and proprietor’ of the Book of Mormon? The title pages of modern copies, of course, describe him as having ‘translated’ them. (I’m looking at a 1981 edition. ) The original title page is shown on page 61 of the Joseph Smith ‘Teachings of Presidents of the Church. ‘

(I have carefully read the points about comments made below, and think I have followed them. )

Donald, 8/30/2017