[MORMONS]. [DESERET ALPHABET]. ["Deseret Second Reader"]. [Salt Lake City: Regents of the Deseret University], 1868. 12mo. Illustrated throughout. 72 pp. With page of Index [?] tipped-in at rear. Publisher's green cloth backstrip over boards.

Binding rubbed, toned, soiled, hinges cracked, several pages with wear at gutters, ownership note on ffep., bookplate of J. Eastman Hatch on fp. Very good. FIRST EDITION OF THIS UNCOMMON SECOND READER IN THE HIEROGLYPHIC-LIKE DESERET LANGUAGE. Brigham Young and several of his followers devised this alphabet in order to create a common language between English-speaking Mormons and the large influx of non-English speaking Mormons. This alphabet didn't catch on, and was forgotten with Young's death in 1877, although some scholars still utilize it.