Alcoholics Anonymous Original Multilith

Alcoholics Anonymous Original Manuscript Pre-publication Multilith Printing of Alcoholics Anonymous In mid-February of 1939, a pre-publication multilithed copy of what, two months later, would become the “Big Book” of Alcoholics Anonymous was circulated to members, relatives, friends, ministers, psychologist and doctors for their comments and critiques. The exact number of printed copies is unclear – numbers of 100, 300 and (most commonly) 400 are mentioned in the records. These copies were sent out as “loan” copies with every expectation they would be returned with annotations – after which they would be destroyed. Many copies were returned and disposed of according to this plan, but a handful of others were not – resulting in no more than 50 – and perhaps as few as 25 copies – surviving. The archival records are overwhelming and conclusive in support of a mid-February of 1939 date of printing for this multilith. Given that there are two states of the title page for the Multilith prin