I went down to Sotheby's today to take a long look at the Original
Manuscript copy that they will be auctioning off on Thursday, June
21st. This is the OM copy where Hank, Ruth, Bill, and others
recorded ALL of the suggestions that they received for edits before
actually printing the first edition of the Big Book. It is an
important historical document on many levels, but most importantly,
I think, because it shows who made some of the suggestions and also
allows you to see the suggestions that our founders did NOT take
when editing the Big Book.

NOTE: I was privileged with a private viewing of this copy of the
Original Manuscript because I had assisted the cataloger in his
write up of the history of the Original Manuscript printings –
which, with the 13 photos, takes up 11½ pages of the catalog. While
I had only 20 minutes to look at this piece when it was first
auctioned off in June of 2004, this time Sotheby's allowed me over
two hours to examine this important copy and it was a truly amazing
two hours! What a piece of AA history!

Just a couple of highlights.

The original front cover of this copy is stamped in black
ink: "LOANED COPY" – something I have heard about but never seen
before. {Note: this copy is missing the original back cover along
with the two pages of "Index" usually found in these copies.)

The reverse side (verso) of the title page has a long handwritten
note on it (see photo in lower left on page 224 of the Sotheby's
catalog). This note continues onto the verso of another loose piece
of paper that is also included here (but not pictured in the
catalog).

This is the manuscript copy of four paragraphs that were inserted
into "Bill's Story." The paragraphs in question are the first four
complete paragraphs found on page 12 of our basic text – starting
with "Despite…" and ending with "…would!" These additions –
certainly the largest edit to the Big Book immediately before it was
published – include some extremely important AA precepts, not least
of which is the italicized quote: "Why don't you choose your own
conception of God?"

This manuscript section is not in Bill's hand. I suspect (especially
given the free use of abbreviations) that it was written there by
Ruth Hock – either transcribed from Bill's notes or taken down from
dictation.

Once again, I noticed that the name of Doctor Howard was just about
everywhere in the manuscript. He sure had a LOT to say about edits
to our book. In addition, two other doctors I have never before
heard referenced as contributors of Big Book suggestions list (Dr.
Witherspoon & Dr. Bevoise [sp?]) are also found here.

The Manuscript is littered with several comments that seem to be
rather off-handed. One noted that something was "too groupy," i.e.
Oxford Groupy. But, my favorite was opposite the first three
paragraphs currently found on page 80 of the Big Book about making
amends: "Dangerous for the NUTS – some could go higher than a kite."

And there is some real history here. On the pages containing the
dropped story "Ace Full – Seven – Eleven," Bill has written the
author's name (something which has not been, to my knowledge, so far
discovered) and includes a short comment on why the story has been
dropped. (I will refrain from sharing that information here since it
rightly belongs to the owner of this copy of the Original
Manuscript.)

Finally, it is interesting to note that none of the suggested
changes to Dr. Bob's story were taken. Someone – in an effort to cut
the text – had advised deleting three paragraphs and Dr. Howard
wanted the last line of his story to read: "Your FAITH will never
let you down!" Bob, obviously, thought the story should remain `as
is.'

If you are anywhere within driving distance of New York City, I
would advise you to make a trip there this coming Friday, June 15th
through Wednesday, June 20th to see this remarkable piece of our
history and to "put your hands on the Book." It was a very moving
experience for both me and my sponsor who joined me for this trip!

Old Bill