The Varieties of Religious Experience

A Study in Human Nature — William James
First Edition Era — Seventh Impression (March 1903)
Longmans, Green, and Co.

A Foundational Text in AA History — The Book That Influenced Bill W.’s Spiritual Experience

Book Details

Title: The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature

Author: William James

Publisher: Longmans, Green, and Co.

Publication Date: March 1903

Printing: Seventh Impression (within a year of the 1902 first printing)

Binding: Original cloth

Pages: 534 + index

Description

This is an authentic Seventh Impression (March 1903) of William James’s landmark work The Varieties of Religious Experience, published only one year after the first edition. Beyond its importance in the fields of psychology, philosophy, and comparative religion, this book holds extraordinary significance in the history of Alcoholics Anonymous.

The Book That Helped Shape AA

The Varieties of Religious Experience is widely known in the AA community as the book that Ebby Thacher brought to Bill Wilson in Towns Hospital in 1934, during the momentous days that led to Bill’s spiritual experience and subsequent sobriety. James’s analysis of sudden religious transformation—especially the story of Samuel H. Hadley—deeply resonated with Bill and strongly influenced the early framing of the AA program.

Referenced in the Big Book

William James and this book are specifically cited in Alcoholics Anonymous:

• Page 28:
  “The distinguished American psychologist, William James… indicates a multitude of ways in which men have discovered God.”

• Appendix II – Spiritual Experience (Page 569):
  “Most of our experiences are what the psychologist William James calls the ‘educational variety’…”

The S.H. Hadley Conversion Story

James recounts the sudden and transformative spiritual awakening of Samuel H. Hadley, a hopeless alcoholic who found sobriety at Jerry McAuley’s Water Street Mission. His experience mirrored Bill W.’s own: A sudden, overwhelming encounter with a Higher Power, Immediate release from the obsession to drink, A total redirection of his life’s purpose—especially toward helping other alcoholics.

Hadley later led the Water Street Mission and published Down in Water Street, further inspiring generations of alcoholics seeking recovery.

Influence on AA Principles

James’s broad definition of religious experience—embracing mystical, sudden, gradual, and psychological varieties—shaped AA’s Concept of “spiritual experience”, Inclusivity of diverse belief systems, Emphasis on personal transformation, Understanding of conversion and awakening.

The Varieties of Religious Experience is one of the most cited and influential non-AA books in the fellowship’s early development.

Condition

Good condition for its age (120+ years old). Wear, fading, and staining to cloth covers and spine. Gilt dulled but present. Binding solid; hinges intact. All pages present and secure. Pen writing on the title page. No other writing or markings found internally. Age-appropriate toning throughout.

Please review all photos for a complete visual understanding of condition.

Collectibility

Early printings of The Varieties of Religious Experience—especially those from the first-year or near-first-year impressions—are highly sought after, particularly by AA literature collectors, Historians of spirituality and psychology, Libraries, archivists, and Scholars of William James and American philosophy.

This 1903 Seventh Impression is a historically rich, AA-significant example of one of the most important spiritual texts of the 20th century.