1877 - 1878 Lorus Bishop Pratt Journal
GUEST: This is a journal that was given to me by my grandmother, of, I believe, my great-great-great-grandfather, Lorus Bishop Pratt. So, Lorus Bishop Pratt, the owner of this diary, his father is Orson Pratt. And his brother is Parley Pratt. And they were one of the first 12 disciples, I believe...
APPRAISER: Uh, Apostles, of...
GUEST: Apostles.
APPRAISER: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
GUEST: Yes, so it, it, it's a special diary. And this diary was when he was actually in England with his father, Orson.
APPRAISER: I believe this is journal or diary number four. Do you know what happened to the other diaries?
GUEST: I don't know what happened to the other diaries. My grandmother shared with me a letter from her brother, stating that they had donated their diary to Brigham Young University. And they wrote a letter to my grandmother and gave her a copy of that diary, diary number two, saying, "This is what we did with ours. We'd like you to donate yours, as well." And she didn't, she chose not to. And, she gave it to me… in secret. When she gave it to me, I thought she just was giving me a copy of the transcript of diary number two. And she gave it to me with the letter, and just said, "Just tuck this away. Don't tell anybody that you have it." And it wasn't until the COVID shutdown that I actually looked in the box and saw that there was more than just a copy of the transcript journal number two. That there was this original diary there with it.
APPRAISER: The LDS Church was founded in New York, 1830, with the publication of the first edition of the Book of Mormon. Joseph Smith appointed 12 men to be the original Apostles of the Mormon Church. And that included your illustrious ancestors, Orson Pratt...
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: ...and his brother Parley P. Pratt.
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: In 1879, the year after your diary takes place, the LDS Church published the first edition of the Book of Mormon that was put into chapter and verse since its inception and first publication in 1830.
GUEST: Wow, and that was by Orson Pratt, right?
APPRAISER: Yes, both Orson Pratt and his martyred brother, Parley P. Pratt, uh, was murdered decades earlier, not only were they two of the original Apostles of the church, they were also two of the leading intellectual lights of the Mormon Church in a very critical period, from Joseph Smith's assassination...
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: ...to the death of Brigham Young, which was in 1877.
GUEST: Oh, my goodness.
APPRAISER: Without having the time to properly study the diary, that must be done... ...I believe, in a retail marketplace, this diary would fetch between $10,000 to $15,000.
GUEST: Really? Oh, my goodness, Ken.
APPRAISER: No copies, no transcripts have ever been made of this diary.
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: If we find more interesting undiscovered history in it, it could drive the value up. So maybe at auction, it might go as high as $15,000 to $25,000.
GUEST: Wow, that's impressive. It's, holds a lot of sentimental value to me, 'cause my grandmother trusted me with it. (exhales)
$10,000 - $15,000 Retail
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Understanding Our Appraisals
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