In form, nature, and function, the Book of Mormon account is similar to what one would expect to find in a codex (or manuscript volume) of ancient Mesoamerica. But Joseph Smith would have had little or no exposure to any codex, let alone one written in ancient America. In fact, in Joseph’s day, literate U.S. citizens—most of whom considered “Indians” (Native Americans) to be “savages”—would have scoffed at the idea that numerous books were written and kept by ancient Americans. The remarkably varied types of accounts found in the Book of Mormon—including diplomatic communications, political history, detailed accounts of battles and wars, calendar data, genealogies, prophecies, descriptions and history of sacred practices, and so forth—made the book unlike any other written in the nineteenth century. Obviously a New York farm boy in that era (or even today) would not even dream of writing such a book. (See Echoes, 274–277.)