This article has been condensed from a BYU Studies article, " Elvis Has Left the Library: Identifying Forged Annotations in a Book of Mormon. From the Collection: Cayce, Edgar Evans (Person). When he died, he was reading A Scientific Search for the Face of Jesus. It all started with superfan Cricket Coulter, who had followed Elvis Presley for more than a decade before giving him the book. The legend of Elvis still lives at your library. Fans will know that The King's bedroom is perfectly preserved at his daughter Lisa Marie's request. The King had been fascinated with religion and spirituality and would spend hours discussing books on such topics with the likes of Billy and Jo on his bed.
It has since become eagerly sought after by Elvis fans. Roger Epperson, "It's Good to Be King: The Story of Elvis'Autograph through Every Loop and Turn, Part I: 1955–66, " Autograph Collector (April/May 2007): 55; Roger Epperson, "Elvis: The Later Years, 1967–1977, " Autograph Collector (August/September 2007): 83. Frank O. Adams, A Scientific Search for the Face of Jesus (Tucson, Ariz. : Psychical Aid Foundation, 1972); Betty Bethards, Sex and Psychic Energy (Novato, Calif. : Inner Light Foundation, 1977). But these forged desires would not come to pass, as the forger suggested that Elvis seemed to know all too well.
Authentic handwriting, courtesy of Keith A. Erekson. Alden reported that Elvis read "some spiritual books" during the summer but named only A Scientific Search for the Face of Jesus about the Shroud of Turin and Sex and Psychic Energy. Authenticator Bill White characterizes Elvis's surviving handwriting as "somewhat erratic, " "jerky, " and "childish-looking. All five authenticators are unanimous in declaring the signature and annotations to be the work of someone other than Elvis Presley. For example, the forger underlined passages about excessive drunkenness (2 Nephi 15:11) and King Noah's whoredoms (Mosiah 11:2). 6 The volume was accessioned into the Church's collection in July 1989. Over the years, she shared two different stories about why the book was returned to her. Lisa Marie Presley, quoted in Ritz, Elvis by the Presleys, 111. One lesson to learn from this forgery is not to draw conclusions that reach beyond the evidence. Elvis was set to fly out of Memphis to begin another tour and was reportedly very excited about the opportunity.
As I examined the volume in the fall of 2018, the annotations on its pages immediately raised more questions than answers. We cannot be sure that Elvis read all of these books, but they concern subjects he was deeply interested in and felt were important to his daily life. First mentioned in 1354, the shroud features the negative image of a man with stigmata in his wrists. In the other story, because Cricket was a fan of the Osmonds as well as Presley, she reported that the book was given to her to pass along because Elvis wanted the Osmonds to have it.
Consola wrote: "After reviewing the signature of Elvis Presley and all the writing in this book, it is my opinion that NONE of the writing and the signature are that of Elvis Presley. Relates numerous experiences from three of his former bodyguards about his careless and reckless behavior. Elvis Presley did not sign this copy of the Book of Mormon. In 1989, a copy of the Book of Mormon was donated to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints containing, purportedly, marginal annotations made by Elvis Presley. According to Graceland archivist Angie Marchese, it's as though Elvis just got up and left. "Salt Lake Tribune, July 14, 2001; the second appears in Donny Osmond and Patricia Romanowski, Life Is Just What You Make It (New York: Hyperion, 1999), 168–69. Underlining "Thou shalt have no other God before me" (Mosiah 12:35), the forger wrote, "Fans = Not me either. Rich Consola is a collector, authenticator, and owner of Elvis Presley Authentication, who specializes in the autograph and handwriting of Elvis Presley. Marginal Annotations. The basic outline of how this copy of the Book of Mormon made its way into the Church's archives has been repeatedly told in the news media. His analysis concluded that none of the annotations in the book came from Elvis, nor did he likely have time to read the book between the time it was given to him and his death. Beneath a photograph of an ancient gold tablet, the smooth-handed forger wrote, "gold records—real ones. "
Underlining Alma's warning to his sexually promiscuous son Corianton about unpardonable sins (Alma 39:6), the forger dialed up two cursive I's to write the book's longest annotation: "I could never deny that which I know in my heart to be true. " It is now a classic collectible available at E-bay, etc. Internal records revealed that others had likewise questioned the book's authenticity, as early as 1991 and as recently as 2008. However, it was never meant to be. In 1989, the donation of the Book of Mormon was accompanied by three photographs. Elvis: Trailer for new Baz Luhrmann biopic on King of Rock. Perhaps the most surprising part of this story is how confidently the tale has been told with so little analysis. From the Collection: Edgar Cayce Foundation (Organization). If you rely on the stories about celebrities like Presley to strengthen your conversion, then you face the possibility of later getting "All Shook Up.
After drawing my own conclusion that the handwriting in the Book of Mormon was not made by Elvis Presley and receiving encouragement from handwriting experts in the Church History Department, I submitted writing samples independently to five Elvis Presley authenticators. As a kid, he loved "Captain Marvel" comic books. For example, he underlined the words "Be still, and know that I am God" in Psalm 46:10 and wrote in the margin, "BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD. " The annotations in this volume are fabrications manufactured to deceive. But the forger also wanted readers to see a change in Elvis's heart. In 1993 the American Library Association produced this READ poster.