Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book Second Edition 3rd Printing
Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book Second Edition 3rd Printing
This book is a great collector's item!
The 3rd printing is a very unique second edition printing. AA misprinted the dust jackets for the 3rd printings. By looking at the front cover of the dust jacket you can notice a glaring mistake as it is labeled as a "Third Edition". It is also labeled as a "Third Edition" with the year "1959" on the front flap of the dust jacket. The true Third Editions of the Big Book were not published until 1976, over 15 years after the Second Edition 3rd printing was published.
The first three printings of the second edition do not feature a printing number on the copyright page of the books which can make it a little more difficult to identify which printing this book truly is. Fortunately there are ways to authenticate this specific book as a 3rd printing of the second edition from 1959.
The first indicator to look at in identifying printing numbers of the second edition is to notice the different markings on the dust jacket. If the dust jacket is labeled as a "Second Edition" on the cover and labeled as published by "A.A. Pub, Inc." on the spine and back flap, it is a first or second printing of the second edition dust jacket. If it is labeled as a "Third Edition" on the cover and labeled as published by "A.A. Pub, Inc." on the spine and back flap, it is a third printing of the second edition dust jacket.
The dust jacket on this book shows that it was labeled as a "Third Edition" and printed by A.A Pub. Inc on the spine.
To verify the printing number of the book, look at the spine of the book and title page to identify if the book was published by "Alcoholics Anonymous Publishing, Inc."(A.A. Pub. Inc, for short) or published by "Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc." If the book is published by "Alcoholics Anonymous Publishing, Inc.", it is a first, second, or third printing of the second edition. If it is published by "Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc." it is a fourth through sixteenth printing.
If the book is published by "Alcoholics Anonymous Publishing, Inc.", the next step is to look at page “xx”, line 6, if the word “really” is spelled incorrectly and spelled “realy” then the book would be a first printing of the second edition. The first printing was first published in 1955 and released at the AA International Convention in St. Louis.
The first and second printings are entirely identical to each other with exception for the spelling of the word "really" on page "xx". The second printing of the second edition is undated but believed to have been printed in 1957.
If the word "really" is spelled correctly on page "xx", then one more step is needed to identify which printing of the second edition a book is. The answer is on page 16, by reading the asterisk at the bottom of the page. If the asterisk reads "AA is now composed of nearly 6000 groups (1955).", then the book is a second printing of the second edition. The book can be identified as a third printing if the asterisk reads "AA is now composed of some 7,000 groups (1959)."
This book features gold lettering on the spine. There are some rare copies of the third printing of the second edition that features silver text on the spine instead of gold.
Here is some historical information about the Second Edition of the Big Book:
“Originally published in 1939, when membership of the A.A. Fellowship was less than one hundred, the first edition of this book has now gone through more than 300,000 copies.
To members, old and new, certain facts about our second edition may be of interest.
Of course, the basic text itself, page 1 to page 165, remains substantially unchanged. To the minds of most A.As, this should stand as first written.
But the front matter has been re-edited and enlarged, including an historical sketch.
Additional recommendations from religion and medicine are given.
A larger Appendix records the A.A. Tradition, and also shows how A.A. can best be reached from any part of the world.
The Personal Story Section has, however, been much revised to meet the needs of an A.A. membership grown from 100 to more than 250,000.
To afford readers a better view of our present membership, the Story Section of this edition now comprises thirty-seven case histories, an addition of 110,000 words of completely new material.
Special attention is drawn to Part II of the stories entitled, "They Stopped in Time".
These will be of particular interest to all who wonder whether they are alcoholics and if A.A. is for them.
This work is authorized by the General Service Conference of Alcoholics Anonymous in the confident hope that a new milestone has been erected upon the road of A.A. progress.”
Another notable and historical note about anonymity is present on the dust jacket of all Second Edition books:
“If you wish to preserve complete personal anonymity when carrying this book, just turn this jacket inside out. It has been especially designed for your convenience.”
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This book is in excellent condition! The book has very little wear. There is some sitting starting to the binding at the title page. There is no writing inside the book. The dust jacket is in fair condition with wear to the edges of the jacket and tears by the folds and spine of the jacket with the back flap being detached. The jacket has been placed inside a plastic brodart cover to protect and keep it together.
Please view all the photos for conditions!