Two school primers for children printed in the 38-character Deseret alphabet, a phonetic alphabet created by George D. Watt, an early member of the Latter Day Saints in Britain. In 1853, the Mormon leader Brigham Young commissioned Watt, a teacher of shorthand, to create the alphabet which he felt would help set the Mormon church apart from the rest of the country, enhance the Mormon sense of identity, assist early immigrants to Utah with learning English, and allow the church more control over what people could read; see The Vault, Slate's history blog (slate.com).

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Two school primers for children printed in the 38-character Deseret alphabet, a phonetic alphabet created by George D. Watt, an early member of the Latter Day Saints in Britain. In 1853, the Mormon leader Brigham Young commissioned Watt, a teacher of shorthand, to create the alphabet which he felt would help set the Mormon church apart from the rest of the country, enhance the Mormon sense of identity, assist early immigrants to Utah with learning English, and allow the church more control over what people could read; see The Vault, Slate's history blog (slate.com).