Mark Hofmann

Mark Hofmann (born December 7 1954), a disaffected member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was a prolific counterfeiter who murdered two people in Salt Lake City, Utah. He is currently serving a prison sentence at the Utah State Prison in Draper, Utah. Hoffman is widely regarded as one of the most skilled forgers in history.

Hofmann's forgeries

After his mission, Hofmann became a dealer in antique items. Forging and altering coins, books, and historical banknotes to make them more valuable (often by adding signatures), Hofmann worked up to fabricating historically significant documents. He became famous for his "discoveries" of previously unknown documents pertaining to the Latter Day Saint movement and the LDS church.

Related Topics:
Coin - Book - Banknote - Latter Day Saint movement - LDS church

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The first forgery Hofmann sold to the LDS church was the so-called Anthon Transcript. Hofmann claimed he found this document April 1980 pasted between the pages of a 1668 Bible with the apparent signatures of Joseph Smith's great and great-great grandfathers inside. The document seemed especially significant as the transcript the Smith's scribe Martin Harris presented to Charles Anthon, a Columbia University classics professor, in 1828. According to the Joseph Smith-History, the transcript and its bizarre "reformed Egyptian" characters were copied by Smith from the Golden Plates from which he translated the Book of Mormon. Joseph Smith-History reports that Anthon thought the esoteric-looking characters were genuinely Egyptian, but wanted access to the original plates. Anthon's recollection of the transcript differed greatly from a purported copy of the transcript possessed by the Community of Christ. Hofmann's version of the transcript seemed like it could be the original because it matched Anthon's description of the paper Martin Harris showed him. A Joseph Smith expert, Dean Jesse, opined that the document's handwriting and signature of Smith appeared genuine. Appraised by the LDS church for USD$25,000, it was purchased on October 13 in exchange for several artifacts the church owned in duplicate including a $5 gold Mormon coin, Deseret banknotes, and a first edition of the Book of Mormon.

Related Topics:
Anthon Transcript - 1980 - 1668 - Bible - Signature - Joseph Smith - Scribe - Martin Harris - Charles Anthon - Columbia University - Classics - 1828 - Joseph Smith-History - Reformed Egyptian - Golden Plates - Book of Mormon - Egyptian - Community of Christ - USD$ - October 13 - Gold - Deseret

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On September 4 1981, Hofmann gave Gordon B. Hinckley another forgery. Supposedly written by Thomas Bullock, Hofmann claimed to have acquired the letter along with the Joseph III blessing, which presented Smith's young son, Joseph Smith III as the most legitimite leader for the LDS church, not Brigham Young . In the forged letter, dated January 27, 1865 and marked "private" and "not sent," Bullock chastises Brigham Young for having all copies of the blessing destroyed. Bullock writes that although he believes Young to be legitimate leader of the LDS church, that he would keep his copy of the blessing. Such a letter would unflatteringly portray Young and by extension the LDS church. Hofmann gave it to Hinckley as a "faithful Mormon," supposedly doing the church a favor. According to Hofmann, Hinckley filed the letter away in a safe in the First Presidency's offices.

Related Topics:
September 4 - 1981 - Gordon B. Hinckley - Joseph Smith III - Brigham Young - January 27 - 1865 - First Presidency

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The sale of these and other forgeries emboldened Hofmann, and confirmed his earlier conclusions about the LDS church. He thought that when LDS officials "covered up" what might be seen as embarrassing or contradictory documents which they apparently thought were genuine, they were lending credence to the stories. Hofmann also concluded that since LDS officials were apparently fooled by his forgeries, they had no divine prophetic powers.

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In this period, Hofmann was continually selling and trading fraudulent documents to the LDS church and many other collectors and historians.

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One significant Hofmann forgery arrived at the church via Brent F. Ashworth, an attorney and rare documents collector. The forgery was a letter complete with 1828 Palmyra, New York postmark from Lucy Mack Smith, Joseph Smith's mother. She describes her son's revelations and finding the Gold Plates. However, the interesting part of the letter is a brief description of the Book of Lehi, also known as the lost 116 hand-written pages of the Book of Mormon. Hofmann sold it to Ashworth, and it was announced to the world in a August 23, 1982 joint press conference. In the conference Dean Jesse again asserted that a Hofmann forgery looked authentic, not only for Lucy Smith's handwriting, but also for the period postmark and correct postage.

Related Topics:
Attorney - 1828 - Palmyra, New York - Postmark - Lucy Mack Smith - Gold Plates - Book of Mormon - August 23 - 1982 - Press conference

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On October 5 1982, the LDS church and Ashworth announced another Hofmann forgery, which they thought was genuine: A supposed letter from Martin Harris to Walter Conrad, brother-in-law of Brigham Young. Ashworth felt that this letter, bought nine months earlier, bolstered the Church's move to subtitle the Book of Mormon "Another Testament of Jesus Christ." Hofmann sold the church another similar letter supposedly from David Whitmer, another of the three witnesses, for $10,000 shortly thereafter. Other purported letters sold in excess of $10,000 include a holograph referring to Joseph Smith treasure-seeking for silver (embarrassing to the church) and the supposed 1830 contract between Smith and Egbert B. Grandin for the first print of the Book of Mormon.

Related Topics:
October 5 - 1982 - Martin Harris - Brigham Young - David Whitmer - Three witnesses - Holograph - Joseph Smith - Silver - 1830

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Hofmann's most famous Mormon history forgery emerged in 1984. An LDS Bishop, Steven F. Christensen, purchased the so-called Salamander Letter for $40,000 on January 6 after the LDS church and Brent Ashworth turned down more extravagant offers. News of the document was contagious and soon Peggy Fletcher of Sunstone Magazine, and then Richard N. Ostling, the religion editor of Time Magazine, were calling about the letter. The Salamander Letter depicted Joseph Smith as a practitioner of folk magic, and related an account of Smith's obtaining the Golden Plates that was completely different from the commonly accepted version.

Related Topics:
1984 - Salamander Letter - January 6 - Sunstone Magazine - Time Magazine - Folk magic - Golden Plates

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In addition to documents from Mormon history, Hofmann also forged a number of other items, including works by Emily Dickinson, Mark Twain and Abraham Lincoln. His last announcement was his discovery of a copy of the long-vanished 17th century printed broadside Oath of a Freeman. The Oath, allegedly a printing from the press that traveled to America on the Mayflower, was a Pilgrim constitution, and would have been the oldest document printed in America. To be sold at over $1 million, the Oath was manufactured by Hofmann as an act of desperation. He even produced a second copy of the document of lesser technical quality. Authentication of these prints was underway as Hofmann committed his murders. They would contribute to his eventual discrediting.

Related Topics:
Emily Dickinson - Mark Twain - Abraham Lincoln - 17th century - Oath of a Freeman - America - Mayflower - Pilgrim - Constitution

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