J. D. Whitcomb’s Comments Below Photo by Zen Some Notable Spaldings Table of Contents Sports Albert Goodwill Spalding (A.G.) was not just the founder of the famous sporting goods company: As a professional baseball player, he had the highest winning percentage of any pitcher in history (nearly 80%), says Wikipedia. Literature In the early nineteenth century, a few men who wanted to discredit the Book of Mormon sought out the manuscript (now known as Manuscript Story) of Soloman Spalding, in the hope that it could be shown to be the origin of Joseph Smith’s book of scripture. When they found it, they were disappointed, for it had no significant resemblance to the Book of Mormon. They then assumed that there had been another work by Spalding, a “lost” manuscript, ironically which was labeled “Manuscript Found.” Many historians now doubt that there ever was a second manuscript, for “Manuscript Found” has not been found. Manuscript Story, on the other hand, was lost for many years but was found in 1884. It was published in 1886 by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It may have had some potential as a fiction but is obviously not the origin of the Book of Mormon. Previous Page Next Page Index