Editing Reformed Egyptian (section)

==The "Anthon Transcript"==
{{Main|Anthon Transcript}}
[[File:Broadside of Book of Mormon Characters.png|upright=1.25|thumb|right|1844 broadside with reformed Egyptian characters, "the same that was taken to Professor Anthon of New York, by Martin Harris, in the year 1827."]]

The "[[Anthon Transcript]]" is a piece of paper on which [[Joseph Smith]] is said to have [[wikt:transcribe|transcribed]] reformed Egyptian characters from the [[golden plates]]—the ancient record from which Smith claimed to have translated the Book of Mormon. A manuscript known as the "Caractors" document was previously thought to be this transcript. However, [[handwriting analysis]] suggests the document was most likely written by [[John Whitmer]], one of the [[Eight Witnesses]].<ref>{{Cite web|title = The 'Caractors' Document: New Light on an Early Transcription of the Book of Mormon Characters, Mormon Historical Studies, vol. 14, No. 1|url = https://www.academia.edu/5007828|website = www.academia.edu|access-date = 2015-12-09| last1=MacKay | first1=Michael H. }}</ref> This handwriting analysis casts doubt on the idea that "Caractors" document was the Anthon Transcript because John Whitmer was not affiliated with the Church until June 1829, while the Anthon Transcript was taken to New York in the winter of 1828.

Smith said that when this sample was presented by Smith's colleague [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] to [[Columbia College, Columbia University|Columbia College]] professor [[Charles Anthon]], a noted classical scholar, that Anthon had attested to the characters' authenticity in writing but had then ripped up his certification after hearing that the plates had been revealed by an angel.<ref>[[Joseph Smith–History]] [https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/pgp/js-h/1.63-65?lang=eng 1:63–65].</ref> Anthon wrote, to the contrary, that he had believed from the first that Harris was the victim of fraud.<ref>See ''Early Mormon Documents'' 4:377–86.</ref>

In 1844, [[Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)|Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints]] published a [[broadside (printing)|broadside]] about the Book of Mormon called "The Stick of Joseph" that reprinted some "reformed Egyptian" characters that resemble those on the first three lines of the "Caractors" document. The broadside said that the characters were those that had been shown to Anthon.<ref>[[James B. Allen (historian)|James B. Allen]] and [[Glen M. Leonard]], ''[[The Story of the Latter-day Saints]]'' (Salt Lake City: [[Deseret Book]], 1992), 57.</ref> However, it is unlikely that the characters on the broadside came directly from the "Caractors" document because Whitmer was excommunicated in 1838 and took his papers with him.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Appendix 2, Document 3. Stick of Joseph, 1844 |url=https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/appendix-2-document-3-stick-of-joseph-1844/1 |access-date=2023-05-12 |website=www.josephsmithpapers.org}}</ref>