first edition
1939 · New York
by Wilson, Bill; and Dr. Bob Smith
New York: Works Publishing Company, 1939. First edition. Near Fine. A Near Fine copy of the book, one of approximately 5,000 first edition copies. Cloth bright and fresh with just a small bump to the front lower corner. Previous owner's bookplate on the front paste down and four sentences underlined in the early leaves, otherwise clean and unmarked. Housed in a custom red clamshell case.
One of the best selling books of all time having sold more than 30 million copies, the "Big Book" inspired one of America’s longest lasting and most enduring social movements. First published in 1939, Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered from Alcoholism is colloquially known as "The Big Book" because of the heft of the paper used in this edition. By William Griffith Wilson (Bill W.) and Robert Holbrook Smith (Dr. Bob), the book chronicles both their personal stories and the path they took to redemption that would later become known as the “twelve step program.” The Big Book has been translated into numerous languages and was designated by The Library of Congress as one of the 88 books that shaped America. “Lest this title should arouse the risibles in any reader let me state that the general thesis of Alcoholics Anonymous is more soundly based psychologically than any other treatment of the subject I have ever come upon. And it is a subject not to be neglected, for, irrespective of whether we live under repeal or prohibition, there will be alcohol addicts, precisely as there are drug addicts” (Contemporary New York Times review). Near Fine. (Inventory #: 6871)
One of the best selling books of all time having sold more than 30 million copies, the "Big Book" inspired one of America’s longest lasting and most enduring social movements. First published in 1939, Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered from Alcoholism is colloquially known as "The Big Book" because of the heft of the paper used in this edition. By William Griffith Wilson (Bill W.) and Robert Holbrook Smith (Dr. Bob), the book chronicles both their personal stories and the path they took to redemption that would later become known as the “twelve step program.” The Big Book has been translated into numerous languages and was designated by The Library of Congress as one of the 88 books that shaped America. “Lest this title should arouse the risibles in any reader let me state that the general thesis of Alcoholics Anonymous is more soundly based psychologically than any other treatment of the subject I have ever come upon. And it is a subject not to be neglected, for, irrespective of whether we live under repeal or prohibition, there will be alcohol addicts, precisely as there are drug addicts” (Contemporary New York Times review). Near Fine. (Inventory #: 6871)
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