Alcoholics Anonymous (Inscribed by Bill Wilson)

New York: Works Publishing Company, 1955. Second edition. Very Good. Warmly inscribed by Bill Wilson on the upper free endpaper: "Dear Marylin, This in great affection and in [illegible] gratitude for your dedication to all that is AA. Always, Bill. 7/21/60." A Very Good copy. Publisher's blindstamped blue cloth. Some sunning to spine, spot of fading to edge of lower board, and a couple blemishes to lower board. Endpapers lightly toned. Still, a solid copy with an exceptional inscription by one of the co-authors. Housed in a custom quarter leather clamshell case.

First published in 1939, Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered from Alcoholism has become one of the most popular books of all time, selling more than thirty million copies and inspiring one of America's most enduring social movements. William Griffith Wilson, also known as Bill W., and Robert "Dr. Bob" Smith were inspired to write the "Big Book" by their own paths to sobriety, a method that would later become known as the "twelve-step program." The Big Book has since been translated into numerous languages and was designated by the Library of Congress as one of the eighty-eight books that shaped America. The book went through sixteen printings between 1939 and 1955 before appearing in this second, revised edition, which bore the subtitle, The Story of How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered from Alcoholism. Very Good.