{"product_id":"1939-alcoholics-anonymous-big-book-first-printing-john-paul-jones","title":"Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book – First Edition, First Printing 1939 – John Paul Jones Provenance – Annotated Working Copy","description":"\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eOffered here is an original \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eFirst Edition, First Printing of Alcoholics Anonymous\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e, published by Works Publishing Company in April 1939.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThis is the first printing of the book that gave Alcoholics Anonymous its name and became known throughout the fellowship simply as the \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003eBig Book\u003c\/span\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eOnly \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e4,650 copies\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e were produced in the original 1939 printing. At the time of publication, Alcoholics Anonymous was still a small and largely unknown fellowship. The title page describes its subject as \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e“The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered from Alcoholism,”\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e while the original Foreword begins with the extraordinary declaration:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p3\"\u003e“We, of Alcoholics Anonymous, are more than one hundred men and women who have recovered from a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThe copyright page bears the original \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e“Copyright, April, 1939 by Works Publishing Company”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e statement and identifies the book as printed by the Cornwall Press in Cornwall, New York.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eBeyond its importance as an original 1939 First Printing, however, this particular copy carries something that gives it an entirely different kind of historical interest: \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eidentified A.A. provenance and extensive evidence of having been used as a working recovery text.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eProvenance — John Paul Jones\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThis copy carries a remarkable association with \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eJohn Paul Jones\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e, an early member of Alcoholics Anonymous whose handwritten notations identify his A.A. roots with the \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eElyria Saturday Night Group in Elyria, Ohio\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eJones records that he \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e“Entered A.A. Nov. 19, 1955”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e and identifies himself with the Elyria Saturday Night Group.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eNearly ten years later, on \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eMay 29, 1965\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e, Jones inscribed this First Edition Big Book to a fellow member of Alcoholics Anonymous and his wife:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p3\"\u003e“To a ‘true champion’\u003cbr\u003eof the ‘fellowship’, and\u003cbr\u003eto his wife ‘Lee’, continued\u003cbr\u003esuccess in the A.A. way\u003cbr\u003eof living —\u003cbr\u003eIn His Grace!\u003cbr\u003eJohn Paul Jones”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eBeneath his signature, Jones gives an address of \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e3006 Connecticut Avenue N.W., Washington, D.C. 20008\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e. Whether this represented his permanent residence or simply his location at the time of the inscription has not been established, but it places Jones in Washington when the book was inscribed, approximately nine and a half years after his recorded entry into A.A.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eResearch accompanying the book identifies the signer as \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eJohn Paul Jones III\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e, and available historical evidence provides an intriguing basis for that identification.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eJohn Paul Jones III was a member of a prominent Cleveland family and a 1954 graduate of Cornell University. His father, John Paul Jones, was a celebrated Cornell athlete and successful Cleveland consulting engineer whose firm, \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eJohn Paul Jones, Cary \u0026amp; Millar\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e, was responsible for major institutional projects in Cleveland and elsewhere. The elder Jones later relocated to Arizona, and subsequent family records identify John Paul Jones III as a center on the University of Arizona football team during the 1955 and 1956 seasons.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eWhile this identification is compelling, \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eit has not been conclusively established\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e and is presented as part of the book’s researched provenance rather than as definitive attribution.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eAn additional ownership notation inside the front cover adds another interesting layer to the book’s history. It identifies:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p4\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eW. V. Green\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e5130 Connecticut Avenue\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eWashington, D.C.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eTelephone: EMerson 8432\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThe precise relationship between Green and Jones remains unknown. It is noteworthy, however, that both men are associated within this same volume with addresses on Connecticut Avenue in Washington, D.C.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eGreen may have been an earlier or later owner of the book, or possibly even the unnamed \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e“true champion” of the “fellowship”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e to whom Jones presented it in 1965. No evidence has yet been found to establish which interpretation is correct.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eTaken together, the inscriptions preserve an unusually personal piece of A.A. history: a First Edition Big Book associated with a man who recorded his entrance into Alcoholics Anonymous in Elyria, Ohio, on November 19, 1955, and who, nearly a decade later, presented the book in Washington, D.C. with a deeply personal wish for another member’s continued success in \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e“the A.A. way of living.”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e“It Says to Write It Out”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003ePerhaps the most compelling feature of this copy is what happened after it left the printing press.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p4\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eThis Big Book was used.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThroughout important portions of the recovery program are underlinings, check marks, arrows and handwritten instructions showing a reader engaging directly with the text.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThe most striking annotations occur in the chapters \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e“How It Works”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e and \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e“Into Action,”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e particularly around the directions for personal inventory.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eBeside the resentment inventory instructions on page 77, a large handwritten arrow points directly to:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p3\"\u003e“In dealing with resentments, we set them on paper.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eAcross the top of the page the reader has written:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p4\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e“It says to write it out.”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThe same instruction appears again on page 79, directing the reader back to the list.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eAgain on page 80, arrows call attention to:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p3\"\u003e“We placed them before us in black and white.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eand:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p3\"\u003e“We put them on paper…”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eOnce again:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p4\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e“It says to write it out.”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eOn pages 82–83, the annotation becomes even more explicit:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p4\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e“It says write out inventory”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003ewith an arrow leading from the handwritten note to the passage:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p3\"\u003e“We got this all down on paper and looked at it.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThe annotation then carries across to the next page and points directly to:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p3\"\u003e“We have written down a lot.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eAnd in \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e“Into Action,”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e on page 87, the same handwritten instruction appears yet again above an arrow pointing to:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p3\"\u003e“We have a written inventory…”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p4\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e“It says to write it out.”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThe repetition is remarkable.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThis was not casual underlining. Whoever made these annotations was emphasizing one very specific interpretation of the original A.A. instructions: \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003ethe inventory was to be physically written down.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eElsewhere, passages in the Foreword and recovery chapters have been underlined, and the Twelve Steps themselves have been individually marked alongside their first appearance on pages 71–72.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eFor many books, writing and underlining are simply condition issues.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p4\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn a Big Book, context matters.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThese pages preserve evidence of someone studying the program, emphasizing instructions, and apparently using the book for the purpose for which it was originally written.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThat distinction is especially powerful in a \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e1939 First Printing\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThis was never conceived as a literary object or a collector’s book. It was created by a tiny fellowship because its members needed a way to carry their recovery message beyond the handful of alcoholics they could reach personally.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThe opening Foreword states the purpose plainly: to show other alcoholics \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e“precisely how we have recovered.”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThe annotations in this copy show a later reader doing exactly what generations of A.A. members have done since—opening the book, studying its directions, and attempting to understand how its program was meant to be practiced.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe First Big Book\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThe historical importance of the 1939 First Printing extends far beyond its rarity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eWithin these pages appeared for the first time the foundational text of Alcoholics Anonymous: \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e“The Doctor’s Opinion,” “Bill’s Story,” “There Is a Solution,” “More About Alcoholism,” “We Agnostics,” “How It Works,” “Into Action,” “Working With Others,”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e and the remaining chapters that established the basic program of A.A.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThe Twelve Steps appear here in their original published form.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThe second half contains the original collection of personal stories demonstrating how the program had worked in the lives of early members. Many of these accounts disappeared from later editions and today represent irreplaceable primary-source material from the formative years of Alcoholics Anonymous.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p4\"\u003eAmong them are \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e“The Doctor’s Nightmare,” “The Unbeliever,” “A Feminine Victory,” “Our Southern Friend,” “The Seven Month Slip,” “The Salesman,” “The Fearful One,” “The Car Smasher,” “An Alcoholic’s Wife,” “The Rolling Stone,”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s2\"\u003e and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e“Lone Endeavor.”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThe result is not merely the first edition of a famous book.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eIt is one of the principal surviving documents from the birth of Alcoholics Anonymous.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThis copy is offered as a \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003ehistorically used and annotated example\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e of the 1939 First Edition, First Printing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThe original red cloth binding shows substantial age and use, including wear and fraying at the extremities and exposed areas along the edges. \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe original dust jacket is not present.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThe interior exhibits age toning, scattered spotting and staining, handling wear and other evidence of use consistent with an 87-year-old book that was actively read rather than preserved untouched.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThere are handwritten annotations, underlining, check marks and other reader markings throughout portions of the text. Of particular significance are the extensive handwritten arrows and repeated \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e“It says to write it out”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e annotations surrounding the inventory instructions described above.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThe pages remain readily readable, and the volume retains the complete text through the final personal story and Appendix.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThis is \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003enot a pristine collector’s copy\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e, nor should it be represented as one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eIts appeal lies somewhere else.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThis is an original 1939 First Printing that survived decades of actual A.A. use and carries within it evidence of the people who owned, studied, shared and worked from it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003ePlease review \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eall photographs carefully\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e for the most complete understanding of the book’s physical condition, annotations and signs of use.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn Extraordinary Working Copy of the Book That Gave A.A. Its Name\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eA clean First Printing Big Book tells one kind of story.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p4\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eThis copy tells another.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eIt begins with the first 4,650 copies printed in 1939, when Alcoholics Anonymous was still an experiment being carried forward by little more than one alcoholic helping another.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eIts later history leads to \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eElyria, Ohio\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e, where John Paul Jones recorded entering A.A. on November 19, 1955; then to \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eWashington, D.C.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e, where in 1965 he presented the book to another member and his wife with a wish for their continued success in \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e“the A.A. way of living.”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eAnd somewhere within that history, a reader repeatedly returned to the practical instructions at the heart of the program, drew arrows across the pages, underlined the directions, and wrote the same reminder again and again:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p4\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e“It says to write it out.”\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eFor a collector interested not only in the rarity of the First Printing but also in the history of how the Big Book was actually \u003cspan class=\"s1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eread, shared and used within Alcoholics Anonymous\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e, this is an exceptional surviving copy.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Recovery Collectibles","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49968679518450,"sku":null,"price":9995.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0328\/4625\/0120\/files\/A6CEF84F-A365-40DA-859A-9F299275D279.jpg?v=1787461752","url":"https:\/\/recoverycollectibles.com\/products\/1939-alcoholics-anonymous-big-book-first-printing-john-paul-jones","provider":"Recovery Collectibles","version":"1.0","type":"link"}