From Tommy Hickcox in Baton Rouge
<cometkazie1@...> (cometkazie1 at cox.net)

SUMMARY

1946: first edition/printing of The Little Red
Book

1947: the one with the red cover seems to be
the second edition/printing

1947: the one with the maroon cover seems
to be the third edition/printing

[Moderator's note: Ed Webster refers to them
as "printings," but when substantial changes
are made in the text, which is what Ed was
doing at this stage, we normally refer to them
today as separate "editions."]

* * * * * *

The Little Red Book had two printings in the
year 1947 and there are differences between the
two volumes. Opinions have been offered which
of the volumes was printed first and which
second.

The covers, title and copyright pages are as
follows:

* * * * * *

One’s cover is distinctively red while the
other’s is a dull maroon.

- - -

The title page of the red volume has:

An Interpretation of
THE TWELVE STEPS
of the
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS PROGRAM

- - -

While the maroon volume has:

An Interpretation of
Alcoholics Anonymous Program
of the
The Twelve Steps

- - -

The copyright pages are identical except the
red volume adds:

First Printing August, 1946
Second Printing January, 1947

* * * * * *

This would imply to me that the red volume was
the second printing.

Printing numbers were not published again
until much later.

It seemed to me one could make an educated guess
as to which came first by comparing text. If
there was a change in the text, did the change
carry over to the printings of 1948 and 1949
and assigned numbers four and five? Did one
volume have material in common with the 4th and
5th printings and not the other 1947 printing?

* * * * * *

A quick check of the first several pages gives
enough material to make an educated guess.

Author’s Note: red is one paragraph of 17
lines; maroon is three paragraphs of 29 lines;
4th/5th: 3 paragraphs of 23 lines but the
lines have more words in them. The wording
is identical to the maroon.

p. 9; para 4, sent 1: red-The new comer often
. . .; maroon-The newcomer too often . . .;
4th/5th-The newcomer too often . . .

p. 10; para 3; last sentence of maroon has
* to footnote: Note paragraph 2, page 44, in
the book, “ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS”; red does
not have the footnote. 4th and 5th have the
footnote.

p.11; para 2, sent 1: red: The alcoholics who
have recovered through the Alcoholics Anonymous
movement . . .; maroon: The alcoholics who
have recovered through the Alcoholics Anonymous
Fellowship . . .; 4th/5th: Fellowship

* * * * * *

There is a list of reasons for failures in the
A.A. program starting at the bottom of p. 11.
Red has 9 reasons listed and maroon has 10.
The first seven reasons are exactly the same,
but the rest differ:

Red 8. Those who have not been harmed sufficiently
by alcohol often fail because drinking is not a
matter of life and death with them. This group
generally involves the men and women with
relatively short alcoholic histories.

Maroon 8. Those who see in alcoholism a moral
problem rather than an illness.

Red 9. Those who accept only a part of the
Twelve-Step Program, who will not try to live
it in its entirety. Those who wish to put a
distorted selfish interpretation on all of the
steps for purposes of their own convenience.

Maroon 9. Those with relatively short alcoholic
histories, to whom drinking is more an
inconvenience than a matter of life or death.

Maroon 10. [There is no Red 10.] Those who
accept only a part of the Twelve-Step Program,
who will not try to live it in its entirety.
Those who wish to put a distorted selfish
interpretation on all of the steps for purposes
of their own convenience. Note-This is the
same as Red 9.

4th/5th: 4th the same as maroon. 5th adds
another reason.

p. 13, para 1: Red has alcoholism as a disease
and Maroon as an illness. 4th/5th have illness.

p. 13, para 2, last sentence: Maroon adds to
the end of the sentence--have faith--keep open
minded, and adds the footnote- *Read page 50
in the book, “ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS” 4th/5th
have the addition.

I did not proceed farther with this analysis as
I thought there was enough evidence to consider
the red volume to be the second printing and the
maroon volume to be the third printing as the
changes the maroon volume has were carried on
to later printings.

I unfortunately do not have a first printing.

Tommy in Baton Rouge