Joseph Smith as scribe

People ask me about this often enough that I'm posting this for future reference.

The earliest known example of Joseph Smith's handwriting is on the Original Manuscript (OM). He wrote much of what is now known as Alma 45:22. 

Therefore, Helaman and his brethren went forth to establish the church again in all the land, yea, in every city throughout all the land which was possessed by the people of Nephi. And it came to pass that they did appoint priests and teachers throughout all the land, over all the churches.

The OM is available in the Joseph Smith Papers here:

yea in every citty throughout all [the land whic]h were <​was​> possessed by the people of Nephi and it came to pass t[h]at <​they​> did appoint priests and teachers

https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/original-manuscript-of-the-book-of-mormon-circa-12-april-1828-circa-1-july-1829/145 

Comments.

1. Penmanship. The first thing to note is the excellent penmanship. Joseph's handwriting is perfectly clear and straight, no less legible than Oliver's. This quality of handwriting requires considerable practice and training.

2. Why. There are two basic theories on why Joseph wrote this: 

(i) Oliver had a hand cramp, was fatigued, had a bathroom break, etc., so he could not continue the verse he started and Joseph finished it before the words were lost, and 

(ii) this is a passage Oliver translated from the plates.

The latter theory makes more sense to me. We learn from D&C 8 and 9 that Oliver sought and obtained the gift to translate but did not succeed.

1 Behold, I say unto you, my son, that because you did not translate according to that which you desired of me, and did commence again to write for my servant, Joseph Smith, Jun., even so I would that ye should continue until you have finished this record, which I have entrusted unto him.

2 And then, behold, other records have I, that I will give unto you power that you may assist to translate.

(Doctrine and Covenants 9:1–2)

That passage can also be interpreted multiple ways: (i) Oliver did not successfully translate anything and (ii) Oliver commenced translating but did not continue.

The verse says he "did commence again to write" which implies that he stopped writing when he translated; i.e., he wrote, then Joseph wrote, then Oliver "did commence again."  If there was no interruption in his writing--if Oliver wrote continuously on the page--then there was no interruption in his scribal duties and the passage doesn't make sense.

The dates of these two revelations are not specified, other than "April," which suggests they were received after they started the translation and before they reached the end. Alma 45 would be a reasonable place in the timeline for Oliver to have requested to translate.

3. A new section. Alma 45 was originally Alma Chapter XXI (21). In the OM, the previous chapter ended with this explanation: 

thus ended the Reckord of Alma which wro <​was​> wrote upon the plates of Nephi

https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/original-manuscript-of-the-book-of-mormon-circa-12-april-1828-circa-1-july-1829/143

It is plausible that this change, ending the record of Alma and starting a new record, could have prompted Oliver's request to translate. In my view, the new record would have been physically obvious on the plates, such as a heading marker Mormon would have used. 

Oliver wrote about a page and a half before Joseph took over. 

4. Evidence--spelling. Joseph wrote "citty" which is the only place in the existing OM where "city" is spelled "citty." This indicates that the U&T were not correcting spelling and that, at least in this case, the translator was not telling the scribe how to spell the words. Oliver Cowdery’s hand at Alma 59:9, for example, has “keep the city” and “maintain that city.”

Of course, spelling in that day was not standardized so this is not a serious error, but it is a useful data point on the translator/scribe interaction. 

There are other misspellings in the OM, of course. Just a few lines above Joseph's handwriting, Oliver wrote "disterbences" even though the 1828 Webster's spells it "disturbances." A few lines later Oliver wrote "desension," "exceding," etc. 

5. Evidence--content. The language of the passage suggests it is a discreet text that is a plausible section to be translated. 

Orson Pratt's versification makes it look like one whole, but it could have been three verses. There are 22 instances of "yea, in" of which 2 start new verses, but all 22 could start new verses. Here, Orson merged the discreet thoughts into one verse.

Therefore, Helaman and his brethren went forth to establish the church again in all the land, 

yea, in every city throughout all the land which was possessed by the people of Nephi. 

And it came to pass that they did appoint priests and teachers throughout all the land, over all the churches.

Imagine Joseph translating that first verse. Oliver writes, then he says, "Hey, that's a good place to stop. Let me try to translate the way the Lord said." So Oliver takes the plates and the Urim and Thummim. He looks on the characters and gets the literal translation, but he has to study it out in his mind to render it into English. 

By now, assuming Oliver started scribing in Alma, he has written "yea, in" four times and "in every city" once. That part is easy. He has written "throughout all the land" 14 times, so that's another easy phrase to render. 

But now he reaches a new thought, which he renders as "possessed by the people of Nephi." That is a unique phrase in the text. Every subsequent rendition of that thought reads "possessed by the Nephites." (see below)

Oliver has written "possessed" four times in Alma, and he has written "the people of Nephi" many times, including six times in this chapter alone. 

[Note: "Possessed by" is a nonbiblical phrase used 3x in Mosiah, but we don't know whether Oliver read through the Mosiah pages before he began scribing Alma.]

If, as I propose, Joseph (and Oliver) translated the text "after the manner of their language" (D&C 1:24), then we would expect to see these repeated phrases. But here, Oliver combines "possessed by" with "the people of Nephi" to create a unique phrase in the text.

We cannot know from the historical evidence whether Oliver translated this passage or momentarily interrupted his scribal duties for some reason. There is evidence for every theory. But it is useful to assess these details for more insights on the translation process.

Other uses of the phrase "possessed by" in the Book of Mormon.

he could stand upon the top thereof and overlook the land of Shilom, and also the land of Shemlon,

which was possessed by the Lamanites; and he could even look over all the land round about.

(Mosiah 11:12)

35 And Amulon and his brethren did join the Lamanites, and they were traveling in the wilderness in

search of the land of Nephi when they discovered the land of Helam, which was possessed by Alma

and his brethren.

(Mosiah 23:35)

4 And he appointed teachers of the brethren of Amulon in every land which was possessed by his

people; and thus the language of Nephi began to be taught among all the people of the Lamanites.

(Mosiah 24:4)

22 Therefore, Helaman and his brethren went forth to establish the church again in all the land, yea, in

every city throughout all the land which was possessed by the people of Nephi. And it came to pass

that they did appoint priests and teachers throughout all the land, over all the churches.

(Alma 45:22)

36 And it came to pass also, that he caused the title of liberty to be hoisted upon every tower which

was in all the land, which was possessed by the Nephites; and thus Moroni planted the standard of

liberty among the Nephites.

(Alma 46:36)

9 And in their weakest fortifications he did place the greater number of men; and thus he did fortify

and strengthen the land which was possessed by the Nephites.

(Alma 48:9)

1 And now it came to pass that Moroni did not stop making preparations for war, or to defend his

people against the Lamanites; for he caused that his armies should commence in the commencement of

the twentieth year of the reign of the judges, that they should commence in digging up heaps of earth

round about all the cities, throughout all the land which was possessed by the Nephites.

(Alma 50:1)

31 And in this year there was continual rejoicing in the land of Zarahemla, and in all the regions round

about, even in all the land which was possessed by the Nephites.

(Helaman 3:31)