Extremely Rare - The Very First AA Pamphlet - April 1940 - Larry Jewell Houston Press Articles

This is the First AA Pamphlet that was published by The Alcoholic Foundation in April 1940. The only other publication of literature released by Alcoholics Anonymous before this pamphlet was The First Printing of the First Edition Big Book in April 1939.

The content inside this pamphlet includes the articles written by Larry Jewell, a newspaperman and AA member that sobered up in Ohio in December 1939 with the help of Dr. Bob Smith and Clarence Snyder and then he was promptly put on a train to Houston, Texas in January 1940 due to health issues. Larry Jewell on the train with his Big Book had a Spiritual Awakening and was inspired to write six articles about Alcoholics Anonymous. These articles have been known as the Houston Press Articles. Upon Larry J.’s arrival in Texas, he brought his articles to The Houston Press and had them published in the January 27th release of the newspaper.

AA cofounder Bill Wilson in New York City was so impressed with the articles that he immediately had the articles published in this pamphlet by the Alcoholic Foundation in April 1940. There were very few of these printed in April 1940 and are extremely rare to find. 

This pamphlet was printed again in more volume but still a very limited quantity in June 1940 as they ran out quickly. This was at a time that there were very few members of Alcoholics Anonymous as there was not a large increase in membership until March 1941 with the release of the Jack Alexander article in the Saturday Evening Post.

This pamphlet is in excellent condition for its age and has been preserved very well. There is some toning to the paper and creases from being folded.

Please view all of the photos for the conditions.