A Book of Commandments, for the Government of the Church of Christ, Organized According to Law, on the 6th of April, 1830
 
This modest, small-format book carries an incredibly dramatic story behind it. It contains the very first printed revelations of Joseph Smith, meant to guide his newly formed church on the American frontier. But in the summer of 1833, before the printing press could finish binding the books, an angry local mob attacked the printing shop in Missouri and threw the pages into the street. A few brave church members risked their lives to gather the scattered, half-printed sheets from the dirt. Because of that chaos, only a handful of original copies survived, making it one of the rarest books in the world.

This specific 1972 edition is a faithful, compact reprint created so people can hold a piece of that history in their hands. Published in Missouri by the Community of Christ (formerly the RLDS church), it lets readers see the exact words and old-fashioned layout just as they looked before the press was destroyed. It is a wonderful little volume for anyone fascinated by early American history, grassroots religious movements, or the sheer survival of a text against all odds.