Six Important A.A. History Treasures for 2009

[dickb]

For 2009, Six Important A.A. History Treasures to View
Dick B.

Several fascinating A.A. history items are in the pipeline already; and more will soon be available in 2009. Almost every one will be on display at the A NEW WAY OUT history recovery conference with Dick B. in Southern California this coming May. They are:

• The “AA Holy Grail.” Not long ago, Ken R. of Alabama purchased at auction in New York for almost a million dollars the “Printers Manuscript” which was fashioned and altered and then submitted for the first publication of the Big Book in 1939. To us, its major appeal concerns the original wording of the manuscript, the innumerable alterations and notations, and the complete change in the approach of the Big Book just before it was first published in 1939. My son Ken and I were privileged to be among those who researched the Introduction that accompanies the book itself which will soon be published. Publisher www.BroadHighwayPublishing.com

• Collector, limited edition special reprints of the First and Second Editions of the Big Book. They are notable because they are reprints of these treasured basic texts. And they are bound in “red” just like the original red cloth cover used only on the first printing in 1939. They both have the alternate proposed dust jacket (known as the Pathway dust jacket) whose front page simply states “Alcoholics Anonymous: Their Pathway to a CURE.” Each of the two editions contains facsimile signatures of Carl Jung, Rowland Hazard, Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr., Ebby Thacher, Bill Wilson, William D. Silkworth MD, Dr. Bob, and Bill Dotson. Publisher www.BroadHighwayPublishing.com

• The Clarence Snyder Bible. Long in the possession of A.A. oldtimer Ed Andy at his Museum in Lorain, Ohio, this Bible was given to Ed by Clarence’s wife Grace at the time of Clarence’s death. It has been faithfully restored by Ken R. To us, it has special value because of the number of markings and underlined items which illustrate how closely Clarence was following the lead of Dr. Bob in the Bible segments he studied. Thus the all-important Book of James, Sermon on the Mount, and 1 Corinthians 13, as well as the frequently mentioned Psalms, are specially marked. See www.dickb.com/AmazGrac.shtml

• Complete copies of the pages of Anne Smith’s Journal, kept by Dr. Bob’s wife from 1933 to 1939. These have never been completely published. They include some of the formerly missing pages. And their scribbling and sometimes indiscernible writing require a knowledge of A.A. history, the beliefs of Anne and Dr. Bob, and the literature they read (including the Bible) for the reader to understand what Anne shared so many mornings with early AAs and their families at the Smith Home morning quiet time with Anne. The contents are faithfully discussed in Anne Smith’s Journal, 1933-1939 (http://dickb.com/annesm.shtml).

• The recently acquired manuscript copy of DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers, containing many unseen, later altered, and often omitted items in the A.A. General Services Conference-approved publication. The reader will be amazed at the number of items about Dr. Bob and other AAs and their families that were presented one way by the reporter-author Niles Peebles, and yet changed before publication to suit the desires of its ultimate publisher—Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. This important item will be extensively used in the forthcoming biography we are preparing on the complete life of A.A. cofounder Dr. Bob. It is a logical follow up on our previous book about Dr. Bob’s youth in Vermont. http://dickb.com/drbobofaa.shtml

• The recently acquired multiple manuscripts and revisions of the memoirs of Lois Wilson before they were published as Lois Remembers. Once again, it is the changes and the notations that arrest the reader’s attention and interest. As with the Holy Grail, the Clarence Snyder Bible, Anne Smith’s papers, the DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers original manuscript copy, and these Lois Wilson materials, the history lies not alone in what organizations published, but in what the writers and historians had to say before the cutting and pasting occurred.

As previously stated, I hope to see most, if not all, of these items on display at our spring, 2009 history conference. Also, to see them in the hands of one faithful steward who will make their contents open, accessible, and—in the case of our own items—free to view so that future AAs, NAs, Al-Anons, historians, agencies, academics, and groups can spend the needed time correctly reviewing, reporting, and disseminating their historical contents.
The descriptions above are my own, and do not necessarily represent the views of others.

[ripw44]

Thats so cool. I am a NA literature collector and I know the joy of holding a real piece of fellowship history in your hand. I am one of the lucky few to own an original rough draft of the NA basic text.. Its like holding the stone tablets the ten commandments were written on lol

Awesome post..