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Description: Half-title + TP + v-vi = Contents + vii-viii = Foreword + half-title + 1-400 + 1 blank leaf, Octavo. First UK Edition, First Printing.The TRUE First Printing of the First UK Edition of the Big Book, Alcoholics AnonymousThere is no publication date noted on the title page but the verso carries the notation "First Printing in England 1954" appearing beneath a list of all the US printings of the book from the first in "April, 1939" to the fourteenth in "July, 1951".The binding of the book is similar to contemporary American printings except that this UK binding has blue boards that are textured with a woven pattern rather than the uniformly smooth blue boards used in the 1950s American printings of the book. The front cover has the embossed words "Alcoholics Anonymous" (similar to the US version) and the words "Alcoholics Anonymous" printed in gilt at the top of the spine. If the book comes with a dust jacket - as this copy does - it is one that is blank on all of the outside surfaces: i.e. there is no printing on the front, rear or spine of the dust jacket. The only printing on the jacket occurs on the inside front and rear flaps - which has two quotes from the book and notes the price of 25s in the text found on the inside front flap.The change of name from Works Publishing to Alcoholics Anonymous Publishing did not happen in the USA until the fifteenth printing of January, 1954 (where it appeared on the title page, but not in the contact information supplied on page 398 - which still said Works Publishing) and in the sixteenth printing of August, 1954 (which says Alcoholics Anonymous Publishing in both places). This securely places the printing of this first UK edition in 1954, but provides no indication of what specific month it might have been printed in that year. [See below for evidence that the book was published in December of that year.]Strangely, the verso of the title page to this first UK edition notes the existence of only fourteen printings of first edition having been printed in the USA - without mentioning either the fifteenth printing of January, 1954 or the sixteenth of August, 1954. The type, text and spacing of this book are all identical to that found in the last four printings (13th, 14th, 15th & 16th) of the American edition. However, this first UK edition has a footnote on page 25 stating that "A.A. is now composed of 3500 groups (1950)." This version of the footnote only appeared in the 13th and 14th US printings of the Big Book [the 15th and 16th printings both say "5,000 groups (1954)]. Taken together, this evidence confirms the stated publication date of 1954 for the first UK edition of the Big Book. NOTE also that in the third printing of this UK edition - using exactly the same text internally - notes on the verso of the title page: "First Printed in England 1954 / Second Impression 1956 / Third Impression 1958." We know this to be the very first printing of the book in the UK from two sources. First of all, there is a copy identical to this in Bill Wilson's personal library, currently housed at his home, Stepping Stones, in Bedford Hills, NY. That catalog listing reads:Alcoholics Anonymous 1939, First Printing in England, by Works Publishing and Alanon Publications, 1954. Dark blue cover; plain book jacket with printing only on inside. Inscribed: To Bill Wilson, In humble gratitude for the things which have come to us through God and the channels He has used. Bill Hopper, Joe Tomkins, Bob Bauld, Alan Booth. Dec. 1954.This would place the printing of this book in December - after the 15th and 16th printings of the US edition noted above.A copy similar to this is also identified and talked about in the official GSO Archives publication, Markings, Your Archives Interchange, noting that "it is believed that there were only 200 copies of the British First Edition/first printing, of the Big Book published in Great Britain, and the same four people [who were responsible for producing this UK edition] appa
Seller: Athena Rare Books ABAA, Fairfield, CT, U.S.A.