{"id":2174,"date":"2015-11-23T19:37:20","date_gmt":"2015-11-23T19:37:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/?p=2174"},"modified":"2023-02-23T19:45:03","modified_gmt":"2023-02-23T19:45:03","slug":"the-book-that-started-it-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/the-book-that-started-it-all\/","title":{"rendered":"The Book That Started It All"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The Book That Started It All: The Original Working Manuscript of <\/span><\/i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Alcoholics Anonymous<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:2,&quot;335551620&quot;:2,&quot;335559739&quot;:200,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">One of the newest additions to the CAS Library\u2019s collection is <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/3SoxKXw\"><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The Book That Started It All: The Original Working Manuscript of<\/span><\/i><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> Alcoholics Anonymous.\u00a0 Published by Hazelden in 2010, the centerpiece of this volume is a high-definition scan of the 170 page manuscript of AA\u2019s celebrated \u201cBig Book.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:200,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hazelden.org\/store\/item\/53103?The-Book-That-Started-It-All-Hardcover\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-2177\" src=\"http:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/619\/2015\/11\/AAbookthatstarted-254x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"254\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/619\/2015\/11\/AAbookthatstarted-254x300.jpg 254w, https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/619\/2015\/11\/AAbookthatstarted.jpg 260w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 254px) 100vw, 254px\" \/><\/a>Prepared over the course of approximately six weeks in the early months of 1939, the manuscript \u201cdramatically captures the controversy and creativity that went into producing the book that would explain AA\u2019s program of recovery to the world\u201d (<\/span><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The book that started it all<\/span><\/i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, 2010, p.1).\u00a0 Every page bears witness to this formative struggle, with many featuring a dozen or more corrections and additions made in various hands.\u00a0 It is fascinating to see how a famous phrase came to bear, or observe how minor revisions in language lead to profound changes in effect, for example the conscious decision of the authors to substitute softer, more suggestive language in place of the directive formulations of the original: \u201cYou must find Him now!\u201d becomes \u201cMay you find Him now!\u201d, etc. (<\/span><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The book that started it all<\/span><\/i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, 2010, p.4).\u00a0 Flipping through the pages, the reader truly gets a sense of the work coming to life.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:200,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">In addition to the manuscript itself, the volume also includes two introductory essays, an annotated list of edits made to the manuscript, a transcript of a speech on the origins of the book given by AA founder Bill Wilson in 1954, and a brief publishing history of <\/span><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Alcoholics Anonymous<\/span><\/i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">.\u00a0 Taken together, these provide readers with an illuminating and comprehensive textual history of one of the seminal works in alcohol literature.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:200,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">True to the tradition of AA, all of the writers and contributors to the volume have chosen to remain anonymous.\u00a0 So, too, has the current owner of the manuscript, who generously permitted its reproduction here for the first time.\u00a0 One thing that is known about the owner, however, is that they acquired the manuscript at a Sotheby\u2019s auction in 2007 for $850,000 (three years earlier it had sold for an even steeper $1.56 million).\u00a0 For those with more modest means, but who are nevertheless interested in seeing this remarkable document for themselves, we invite you to stop by the CAS Library to check out its facsimile reproduction in <\/span><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The Book That Started It All: The Original Working Manuscript of<\/span><\/i><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> Alcoholics Anonymous.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:200,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Book That Started It All: The Original Working Manuscript of Alcoholics Anonymous\u00a0 One of the newest additions to the CAS Library\u2019s collection is The Book That Started It All: &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/the-book-that-started-it-all\/\" class=\"\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":447,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alcohol-history","category-resources"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Book That Started It All - Alcohol Studies Archives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/the-book-that-started-it-all\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Book That Started It All - Alcohol Studies Archives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Book That Started It All: The Original Working Manuscript of Alcoholics Anonymous\u00a0 One of the newest additions to the CAS Library\u2019s collection is The Book That Started It All: &hellip; Read More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/the-book-that-started-it-all\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Alcohol Studies Archives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-11-23T19:37:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-02-23T19:45:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/619\/2015\/11\/AAbookthatstarted-254x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Judit Hajnal Ward\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Judit Hajnal Ward\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/the-book-that-started-it-all\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/the-book-that-started-it-all\/\",\"name\":\"The Book That Started It All - Alcohol Studies Archives\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/the-book-that-started-it-all\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/the-book-that-started-it-all\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/619\/2015\/11\/AAbookthatstarted-254x300.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-23T19:37:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-23T19:45:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/#\/schema\/person\/2426a87c575ce3b2c0663bbfd2b2ae34\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/the-book-that-started-it-all\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/the-book-that-started-it-all\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/the-book-that-started-it-all\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/619\/2015\/11\/AAbookthatstarted.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/619\/2015\/11\/AAbookthatstarted.jpg\",\"width\":260,\"height\":307},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/the-book-that-started-it-all\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Book That Started It All\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/\",\"name\":\"Alcohol Studies Archives\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/#\/schema\/person\/2426a87c575ce3b2c0663bbfd2b2ae34\",\"name\":\"Judit Hajnal Ward\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/747d7b95b7225ac89dab60987b568a82?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/747d7b95b7225ac89dab60987b568a82?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Judit Hajnal Ward\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/author\/jhajnal\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Book That Started It All - Alcohol Studies Archives","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/the-book-that-started-it-all\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Book That Started It All - Alcohol Studies Archives","og_description":"The Book That Started It All: The Original Working Manuscript of Alcoholics Anonymous\u00a0 One of the newest additions to the CAS Library\u2019s collection is The Book That Started It All: &hellip; Read More","og_url":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/the-book-that-started-it-all\/","og_site_name":"Alcohol Studies Archives","article_published_time":"2015-11-23T19:37:20+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-02-23T19:45:03+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/619\/2015\/11\/AAbookthatstarted-254x300.jpg"}],"author":"Judit Hajnal Ward","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Judit Hajnal Ward","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/the-book-that-started-it-all\/","url":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/the-book-that-started-it-all\/","name":"The Book That Started It All - Alcohol Studies Archives","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/the-book-that-started-it-all\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/the-book-that-started-it-all\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/619\/2015\/11\/AAbookthatstarted-254x300.jpg","datePublished":"2015-11-23T19:37:20+00:00","dateModified":"2023-02-23T19:45:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/#\/schema\/person\/2426a87c575ce3b2c0663bbfd2b2ae34"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/the-book-that-started-it-all\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/the-book-that-started-it-all\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/the-book-that-started-it-all\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/619\/2015\/11\/AAbookthatstarted.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/619\/2015\/11\/AAbookthatstarted.jpg","width":260,"height":307},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/the-book-that-started-it-all\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Book That Started It All"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/","name":"Alcohol Studies Archives","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/#\/schema\/person\/2426a87c575ce3b2c0663bbfd2b2ae34","name":"Judit Hajnal Ward","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/747d7b95b7225ac89dab60987b568a82?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/747d7b95b7225ac89dab60987b568a82?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Judit Hajnal Ward"},"url":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/author\/jhajnal\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2174"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/447"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2174"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2178,"href":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2174\/revisions\/2178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/alcoholstudies-archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}