Co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (1895–1971), the treatment program which has helped millions of people recover from a disease long stigmatized and regarded as irreversible. Signed book: Alcoholics Anonymous. First printing of the second (“new and revised”) edition. NY: Alcoholics Anonymous Publishing, Inc., 1955. Hardcover with dustjacket, 5.75 x 8.25, 575 pages. Signed and inscribed in ballpoint on the front free end page, “Dear Gudrun, Please have this in grateful memory of your devoted service, Affectionately, Bill, NY, Xmas 55.” The inscribee, Gudrun Crosier (died 1988), was a friend of Wilson’s and a longtime supporter of AA who helped found a chapter of the organization in Iceland. In very good condition, with losses and edge wear to jacket (front panel and flap both separated but present), light wear and bumping to extremities, a few light stains to covers, faint foxing to endpapers (including, to a lesser degree, signed page, not affecting writing), and small authentication label to signed page. The inscription and signature are clear and dark. Increasingly elusive in signed copies! Auction LOA John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and R&R COA.
