Uncorrected Proof of Bill W. by Robert Thomsen - from 1975

This is the Uncorrected Proof of Bill W. by Robert Thomsen. This proof copy was sent out to Reviewers and friends of Robert Thomsen to return to him with any corrections to be made. Thomsen wrote on the first page of the book “Chaney Please Return”. There is an address label on the first page for Mr. Beverly Chaney.

The First Printing of this book was published later in 1975. This was four years after Bill Wilson passed away. 

Here is the “Brief Description” from the first page of this Proof Copy:

“This superb human story sets forth the life of Bill Wilson, who died in 1971 and who was the cofounder but-essentially-the creator and godfather of Alcoholics Anonymous: his Vermont boyhood; his marvelous grandfather; his youthful marriage; success as a leader in World War I; his trying to ride the boom of the twenties (he had a marked talent for financial appraisal); his final collapse into absolute alcoholism, which brought him to the point-literally-of death; his vision of rescue-and-redemption; his meeting with "Dr. Bob" and the first, painful start of what has become a multinational fellowship with millions of members all over the world.”

Learn more about the book from the text that was included on the dust jacket of the first printing of this book:

“The human drama that unfolds in these pages is memorable for two reasons— one public and one private. It is the story of a man whose discovery, or vision, has changed the lives of a million people throughout the world (Aldous Huxley called him "the greatest social architect of our time"). And it is a preeminent example of that hazardous inner quest Carl Jung has mapped and identified as Modern Man in Search of a Soul.

In truth, a third factor, however paradoxical, compels our attention. The fellowship of which Bill W. was co-founder is worldwide; its precepts are as potent in India and Japan as in the United States, Australia, and Western Europe. But Bill's own life was an American life, encompassing (1895 to 1971) three-quarters of a century of the national experience, from the living memories of the veterans of Gettysburg, through the euphoric years of industrial expansion, entry into World War I, the boom of the twenties and the depression of the thirties, right down to the present decade. His inner conflict, his battle against the unseen enemy, was fought on a terrain and under combat conditions one hundred percent American.

Take his Vermont boyhood at the turn of the century, raised by a grandfather committed to Jefferson's ideals and Lincoln’s dream; marriage to the beautiful and spirited Lois Burnham, before leading men to France to make the world safe for democracy; a wild ride on the Wall Street rollercoaster and growing dependence on alcohol to clarify confusions; collapse that brought him to the verge of death and the luminous instant of insight—or miracle-that saved him; a search leading to the climactic encounter in 1935 with Dr. Bob (fellow-Vermonter and fellow-drunk) and the start of what was to be a new beginning for countless others who despaired of finding rescue or redemption. That the answer should come in the form of a society in which all members are absolute equals, whose spiritual core is guarded by its insistence on anonymity, which cuts through class, condition, color, creed and race, and has survived the inner divisions and external dangers of its early years will seem to the reader incredible and inevitable. It was, in large measure, created by a Yankee pragmatist bred to the belief that all men are equal and that what they have in common is stronger than anything that tries to separate them.

Every night at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings around the world, a speaker will say, "Our stories disclose in a general way what we used to be like, what happened and what we are like now." In a sense this describes the story of Bill W., a stirring spiritual odyssey through triumph, failure and rebirth, with vital meaning for men and women everywhere.”

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This book is in very good conditions. There is some light wear to the paper book cover. Thomsen wrote with black marker some information about the book on the front cover. Other than Thomsen’s note on the first page, there is no other writing or markings inside the book.

Please view all of the photos for the conditions.