Editing Jerald and Sandra Tanner (section)

===Joseph Smith Egyptian Papers===
{{Main|Kirtland Egyptian Papers}}

The Tanners have specialized in publishing original documents that would otherwise be inaccessible to the general public. For example, in 1966, they were the first to publish Joseph Smith's ''[[Egyptian Alphabet and Grammar]]'' (since called the "Joseph Smith Egyptian Papers"). Prior to their publication, few LDS Church members knew about these documents.<ref name= Larson1992>{{Cite book |title= By his own hand upon papyrus |first= Charles M. |last= Larson |orig-year= 1985 |oclc= 26140322 |year= 1992 |edition= rev |publisher= [[Institute for Religious Research]] }}{{Page needed|date= August 2011}}</ref> The next year, the publication prompted discussions and debates about the content of the documents, which have continued for decades.

Joseph Smith said that, in addition to translating the golden plates, he translated the ''[[Book of Abraham]]'' papyri. These materials were thought to have been lost in the [[Great Chicago Fire]]. However, in 1966 scholars found ten fragments of the papyri in the archives of the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] in New York. Subsequently, an additional fragment was located in the LDS [[Church Historian's Office]]. 

The papyri have been determined to be portions of [[Culture of Egypt|Egyptian]] funerary texts, dating to about the first century BC.<ref name=Larson1992 /> The LDS Church disputes the Tanners' position stating in an Ensign article, "…some people have concluded that this Book of Breathings must be the text Joseph Smith used in his translation of the book of Abraham. However, there are some serious problems associated with this assumption. First of all, from paleographic and historical considerations, the Book of Breathings papyrus can reliably be dated to around A.D. 60–much too late for Abraham to have written it. Of course, it could be a copy–or a copy of a copy–of the original written by Abraham. However, a second problem arises when one compares the text of the book of Abraham with a translation of the Book of Breathings; they clearly are not the same…"<ref>{{cite magazine| url= https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1988/07/i-have-a-question/why-doesnt-the-translation-of-the-egyptian-papyri-found-in-1967-match-the-text-of-the-book-of-abraham-in-the-pearl-of-great-price?lang=eng| title= Why doesn't the translation of the Egyptian papyri found in 1967 match the text of the Book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price?| magazine=[[Ensign (LDS magazine)|Ensign]]|publisher=LDS Church |date=July 1988}}</ref>

The Tanners contend that the ''Book of Abraham'' is a 19th-century work written only by Joseph Smith.