Alcoholics Anonymous (The AA "Big Book")

New York: Works Publishing Company, 1939. First edition. Near Fine. A very Nearly Fine copy of the book. Spine gilt a trifle dulled and a small ding to one corner. Previous owner's name on the front end paper in pencil, "Wm M Jefferson," otherwise unmarked internally. One of approximately 5,000 first edition copies, and uncommon in this condition. Housed in a custom 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.

"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.