Retired bookstore owner Helen Schlie is selling her 1830 first-edition Book of Mormon one page at a time.

Schlie says, "This way, it will touch hundreds of lives and span generations of time. The book has now started a whole new missionary career."

Schlie says she came across her copy while working as a book dealer in suburban Phoenix.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) is shying away from criticizing Schlie for her plans.

Church spokesman Mike Otterson says, "Issues like these rest on our members' sense of propriety and conscience."

Schlie has framed each page in a double-sided, purple heartwood frame and affixed a 14-karat gold Moroni angel on each side. The signatures of both authenticators also accompany each page.

Curt Bench is the owner of Benchmark Books in Salt Lake City, specializing in Mormon literature. He says, depending on the condition, the average going rate for a complete first-edition book is somewhere between $50,000 and $75,000.

If each of Schlie's pages sell for her minimum asking price of $2,500, all 290 pages would bring in $725,000.