History & item details
The 1955 A.A. International Convention Collection
From the Mayflower Collection
The St. Louis convention marked A.A.’s twentieth anniversary. Offered together, these seven items connect the gathering, the new literature, public recognition, and the telling of A.A.’s history.
Complete collection asking price: $195,000 USD.
The seven-item collection
- Bill Wilson’s Letter to Ed — February 26, 1957
- The white-band Big Book
- The Eisenhower telegram
- The confidential prepublication copy
- The Al-Anon Family Groups
- The Harper & Brothers edition
- The Bill Wilson-inscribed copy
Bill Wilson’s Letter to Ed — February 26, 1957
The author’s own words on memory, friendship, and the telling of A.A.’s history.
Writing to “Dear Ed” on his W. G. W. stationery, Bill thanks his correspondent for responding to A.A. Comes of Age. He explains that he dictated the account largely from memory and welcomes corrections that could bring it closer to the events themselves.
Signed “Bill” and presented beside his portrait, the letter connects the published history with the personal work behind it. Collection records identify the recipient as Eddie Reilly; the letter itself addresses him as Ed.
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The white-band Big Book
Inscribed by Bill Wilson to Grace, New York, Christmas 1955.
The 1955 Second Edition of Alcoholics Anonymous, with its white promotional band, brings a personal dedication into the story of A.A.’s twentieth-anniversary year.
The inscription appears to recall Bill’s own twenty-first sobriety-anniversary celebration. The full transcription and photographic record are presented on the individual book page.
The band draws attention to the new and revised edition, including its new personal stories. Together, the jacket, band and handwritten dedication distinguish this copy within the collection.
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The Eisenhower telegram
Presidential recognition at the moment the Fellowship assumed responsibility for its future.
Addressed to Alcoholics Anonymous, Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri, the Western Union message carries a greeting from President Dwight D. Eisenhower on the opening date of the 1955 convention. Its dateline identifies the White House in Washington. The familiar telegram heading and compact transmitted text give a physical form to a message intended for the assembled Fellowship.
Eisenhower’s words move beyond a ceremonial wish for a successful meeting. He singles out A.A.’s growth and service and places its work alongside efforts to address serious personal and public health problems. In a collection concerned with A.A.’s coming of age, the telegram supplies the outside view: recognition of the Fellowship’s contribution from the President of the United States.
Its relevance is specific to this gathering. The message names the twentieth anniversary and is addressed to the convention venue; it is not a general statement of support later associated with the occasion. Read beside Bill Wilson’s private letter, it creates a striking change in scale—from public recognition of A.A. to the intimate work of remembering how it began.
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The confidential prepublication copy
An editorial version of A.A. Comes of Age, explicitly marked confidential and circulated on loan.
The blue-green cover announces its purpose plainly: “Confidential” above the title A. A. Comes of Age, with “Pre-publication Copy” and the date 1957 below. Inside, a notice identifies the manuscript as the property of Alcoholics Anonymous Publishing, Inc., prohibits publication, and describes it as a loan copy intended to assist the editors. The handwritten number 248 is visible on a preliminary page; it is not, by itself, evidence of the size of the printing.
The preliminary material explains the book’s intended structure. A panoramic account of the St. Louis gathering is followed by Bill’s expanded historical talks on Recovery, Unity and Service. A further section presents the perspectives of friends of the Fellowship, including physicians, clergy and the chairman of the General Service Board. The prepublication copy therefore belongs directly to the effort to turn the convention and A.A.’s first two decades into a durable historical account.
A.A.’s own retrospective account of the book’s preparation describes a draft being sent to early members, friends and professionals for criticism. This copy’s loan notice gives material evidence of that editorial purpose.
Its relationship to the Reilly letter is especially useful for interpretation. One object preserves a history in preparation; the other records Wilson responding to a reader’s corrections. Displayed together, they illuminate the same process. The available records do not establish that Eddie handled this particular loan copy or that it accompanied his letter.
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The Al-Anon Family Groups
Al-Anon’s first hardcover book, introduced at the same St. Louis convention.
The Al-Anon Family Groups: A Guide for the Families of Problem Drinkers broadens the collection beyond the alcoholic’s own experience. Al-Anon’s official timeline confirms that its first hardcover book was introduced at the 1955 A.A. International Convention in St. Louis. It records five Al-Anon workshops at that gathering, including one concerning children of alcoholics.
This is a direct connection between the book and the event around which the collection is organized. Its inclusion allows the story of 1955 to encompass the families developing a fellowship and literature of their own, alongside A.A.’s growth and assumption of responsibility for world services.
The collection records describe this unsigned volume as a 1955 first printing with its original dust jacket. The photographs show the blue-and-cream jacket and title page.
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The Harper & Brothers edition
The green-jacket Harper edition provides a published counterpart to the confidential editorial copy.
The Harper & Brothers edition of Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age: A Brief History of A.A. provides a useful counterpart to the prepublication manuscript. The photographed title page names Harper & Brothers, New York, while the green jacket and contrasting binding distinguish it visually from the A.A. Publishing copies.
Harper’s edition was intended for the book trade, while the A.A. Publishing edition served readers within the Fellowship. The collection can therefore show the historical account moving from a confidential editorial document into published forms addressed to different audiences.
The copyright page supplies the copy’s bibliographical details: FIRST EDITION / H-G, with a 1957 copyright date. Its title page names Harper & Brothers, New York.
An additional photograph records a label reading “From the Private Library of Rev. William E. Lundberg”, dated September 23, 1959. The label records a specific ownership association. Photographs show the jacket, boards, spine, title and copyright pages.
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The Bill Wilson-inscribed copy
A personal inscription, signed with Wilson’s full name, extends the story beyond publication.
The collection records describe this A.A. Publishing copy of A.A. Comes of Age as a 1957 first printing. Its most revealing feature is the inscription addressed to Kenneth Erie, thanking him for his interest in A.A. and expressing Wilson’s deep gratitude. It closes “Ever Yours” and is signed “Bill Wilson”, with a New York, December 1965 date.
Wilson’s full-name signature is clearly visible in the photograph. The dedication records his gratitude for the recipient’s interest in A.A.; it does not identify Kenneth’s role or establish whether he belonged to the Fellowship.
In the collection’s sequence, this volume records a later personal exchange around the completed history. The photographs show the inscription, dust jacket and binding in detail.
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Offered together as one collection. Please review the photographs and descriptions, and contact Recovery Collectibles for further condition details and acquisition questions.
