THE ANCIENT PLATES AND THE MODERN TRANSLATION. =14. The Plates of the Book of Mormon= as delivered by the angel Moroni to Joseph Smith, according to the description given by the modern prophet, were of gold, of uniform size, each about seven inches wide by eight inches long; in thickness a little less than ordinary sheet tin; they were fastened together by three rings running through the plates near one edge; together they formed a book nearly six inches in thickness, but not all has been translated, a part being sealed. Both sides of the plates were engraved with small and beautiful characters, described by those who examined them as of curious workmanship, with the appearance of ancient origin. =15.= Three classes of plates are mentioned on the title page of the Book of Mormon, viz:-- (1.) _The Plates of Nephi_, which, as will be shown, were of two kinds:--(a) the larger plates; (b) the smaller plates. (2.) _The Plates of Mormon_, containing an abridgment from the plates of Nephi, with additions made by Mormon and his son Moroni. (3.) _The Plates of Ether_, containing, as we have seen, the history of the Jaredites. To these may be added another set of plates, as being mentioned in the Book of Mormon, viz: (4.) _The Brass Plates of Laban_, brought by Lehi's people from Jerusalem, and containing Jewish scriptures and genealogies, many extracts from which appear in the Nephite records. We have now to consider more particularly the plates of Nephi, and Mormon's abridgment thereof. =16. The Plates of Nephi= are so named from the fact that they were prepared, and their record was begun, by Nephi, the son of Lehi. These plates were of two kinds,[773] which may be distinguished as the "larger plates" and the "smaller plates." Nephi began his labors as a recorder by engraving on plates of gold a historical account of his people, from the time his father left Jerusalem. This account recited the story of their wanderings, their prosperity and their distress, the reigns of their kings, and the wars and contentions of the people; the record was in the nature of a secular history. These plates were handed from one recorder to another throughout the generations of the Nephite people; so that, at the time they were abridged by Mormon, the record covered a period of about a thousand years, dating from 600 B. C., the time of Lehi's exodus from Jerusalem. Although these plates bore the name of their maker, who was also the first of the writers, the separate work of each recorder is known in general by his specific name, so that the record is made up of many distinct books. [773] I Nephi ix; xix, 1-5; II Nephi v, 30; Jacob i, 1-4; Words of Mormon i, 3-7.