Collection of historic Latter-day Saints items valued at $3.2M for sale

Salt Lake City, Utah – A private collection of artifacts from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is up for sale.

The collection of rare and historic letters, books, documents, and art relating to the Church, valued at $3.2 million, has been dubbed as possibly “one of the last opportunities to acquire such important LDS memorabilia.”

The G. Ralph Bailey collection offers insight into the history of the colonization of the American West and the early years of the Church, according to the Bailey Family Trust.

“This is one of the most valuable and expansive LDS collections in private hands today,” says Jerry Erkelens, Personal Property Appraiser at Intermountain Auction and Appraisal. “In my 40 years of appraising LDS works, I have never come across anything quite like it. With more than 4,000 items, this collection provides a unique lens into a transformational time for the religion, which helps piece together significant moments within U.S. history.”

Among the items for sale include more than 30 letters written by Brigham Young during the settlement of the Salt Lake Valley describing how the Church tried to stop the army from entering the Utah territory. It also recounts Young’s reaction to the U.S. Government’s political and judicial activities related to Church practices.

In the collection also are rare books and early Church pamphlets, including three first edition Books of Mormon, legal property and society documents, and a selection of drawings by Utah artists Jack Sears.

Some of the documents date as far back as the early 1800s.