May 9, 2018 | By Tim Stoddart

NFL Owner Pays 2.4 Million For Life-Saving Manuscript

Addiction & Recovery News

In 1936, 5,000 copies of the book “Alcoholics Anonymous,” sat in a warehouse for months, nearly bankrupting a New York stockbroker. But after coverage on radio and in the Saturday Evening Post, sales exploded, and requests for help were flooded to the group, and a phenomenon and life-saving sub-culture was formed.

Today, there has been more than 30 million copies sold, and it has been translated into 67 languages. In 2012, the Library of Congress ranked it No. 10 in its top 25 “Books that Shaped America.”

Last week, the auction house “Profiles in History” announced the sale of the manuscript with handwritten notes from the group’s founding fathers, Bill Wilson, and Bob Smith.

The founding document of the “Big Book,” sold at auction for a whopping $2.4 million to billionaire and Indianapolis Colts owner, Jim Irsay.

“It’s A Miracle To See This Thing Live”

In a statement following the auction, Irsay noted that he considers himself a steward for the manuscript.

“I’ve held it. I’ve looked through it. It is absolutely mind-blowing,” he said. “It was just a miracle to see this thing live.”

Irsay, stated in a telephone interview with the Associated Press, that he considered remaining anonymous in the purchasing of the manuscript, however wanted to go public to attempt to relieve the stigma of alcoholism and addiction.

“The only way we stay sober is to give it away,” Irsay said.

“I think it’ll help a lot of people,” he said. “That’s the reason I’m doing it.”

This is the third time the 161-page typed document has been sold. It sold in 2007 for $850,000 and for $1.6 million in 2004. Saturday’s auction was delayed by a dispute with Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

Irsay told The Associated Press he plans to build a special display for the manuscript and display it for several months a year at Alcoholics Anonymous’ headquarters in New York. He says he attempted to buy the manuscript when it was up for auction several years ago, and he is thrilled at the opportunity to share it publicly.

Standing The Test Of Time

Co-Founder, Bill Wilson’s widow Lois owned the papers after his death in 1971, and she passed them on to her friend Barry Leach. Alcoholics Anonymous said Leach signed and notarized a letter in 1979 saying the manuscript would belong to the organization after his death. He died in 1985, but the manuscript did not make its way to Alcoholics Anonymous, which did not know about the notarized letter at the time. Leach’s brother, as executor of Leach’s estate, declared that Leach had “no tangible personal property of significant value.”

The whereabouts of the manuscript remained unknown until it reappeared at an auction house in 2004 when Sotheby’s auctioned it for $1.6 million to a “Joseph B.” It was auctioned again in 2007 to Alabama resident Ken Roberts for $992,000.

A few months later, according to court documents, A.A. World Services rediscovered Leach’s notarized letter. When Roberts moved to auction, the organization sued to stop him, claiming it was the rightful owner.

Details of the settlement are unclear, but A.A. agreed to waive its right to the manuscript.

On the 161-page review copy, Wilson and his friends scribbled edits in red, blue and black pencil. One of them persuaded Wilson to change the tone of the entire thing from lecturing advice to a humble offering of personal experience. Thus, “Half measures will avail you nothing” became “Half measures availed us nothing.”

What are your thoughts?

5 responses to “NFL Owner Pays 2.4 Million For Life-Saving Manuscript

  • Jim Crowley

    6 years ago

    I LOVE, all things AA. I am so grateful that at long last the original manuscript will be home with us. I can’t wait to see it! I have spent many a day at GSO archives sifting through our history. And love learning the real human side of the storied history. We are all a piece of the history, and need to know and preserve it, protect it, and do a better job of PASS IT ON. ONE DAY AT A TIME. 12,994. THE OLD TIMERS.

    Jim Crowley
    Walpole NH

  • Toni D. Johns

    6 years ago

    AWESOME NEWS !!!! I look forward to viewing it !!! The BIG BOOK of AA has saved many lives, mine included. LOVE IS THE INDUSTRY OF LIFE … PASS IT ON !!!

  • Dana Stone

    6 years ago

    What would be really cool is for an organization to mount a national tour of the manuscript across the country: viewings at public libraries, for example, or other public places, along with a display of what AA’s about. I’m also a bit surprised that the manuscript was not given to the Library of Congress, which could have digitized the papers, for the entire world to view.

    Strange that Leach’s brother claimed that Barry left “nothing of any tangible value” and that the AA organization lost track of the notarized letter that would have given them the rights to it.

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