February 21 in A.A. History

In 1939, an unknown number of copies—roughly 400—of the Big Book multilith (or photolith) manuscript [left: pp. 24–43] were distributed to doctors, judges, psychiatrists, A.A. members, and others for feedback.
    At this stage, the pre-publication manuscript was 164 pages long, including “The Doctor’s Opinion” and 20 of 29 planned personal stories. Bill W. had titled the manuscript Alcoholic’s [sic] Anonymous, and some early printings had “Loan Copy” stamped on the cover in an attempt to secure copyright protection. Since not all copies were so marked, any copyright claim was effectively voided.
    Editor Tom Uzzell had significantly reduced the manuscript’s length, reportedly by trimming the personal stories. Estimates varied on how many pages were cut. According to Bill, Uzzell had

    … sharpened up the English but didn’t change much of anything excepting to take my story out of the story section where it had been the number one story and insisted on using it to open the book… What is now Chapter 2; I had intended to be Chapter 1.

    This is significant because it shows that in the original manuscript, “Bill’s Story” appeared in the “Personal Stories” section, and it was Uzzell who moved it to the front of the book, not Bill.
    Later that same day, Alcoholic Foundation Trustee Frank Amos wrote to fellow Trustee Willard Richardson, noting that

    ... the photolith copies of the book are now completed and I am sending one copy with this.… They are quite legible but of course but are put up in cheap form and cannot be compared in attractiveness and readability to the final printed volumes.… The main part of the book has been carefully edited, but the individual stories, occupying the last half of the book, still must undergo considerable editing. Also, there are a number of stories to be added, most of them, I believe from Akron.… [I]f you will let me or Bill know how many of these photolith copies you would like to have, he will see that you get them at once.

Also in 1939, Clarence S. [right] wrote a letter to the editor of the Cleveland Press describing Alcoholics Anonymous. In the letter, he provided the address of the Alcoholic Foundation in New York City as well as his own in Cleveland, Ohio, suggesting that no local central committee was yet in operation.
    Clarence further explained that members achieved sobriety by following a specific pattern, stating that a member must:

Have a sincere desire to quit drinking forever. Recognize the allergy and compulsion for lifetime. Recognize his ailment as a disease. Accept God and live by four simple principles: honesty, unselfishness, purity and love.

    He also encouraged readers to consult Alcoholics Anonymous, referring to it as “a book written by alcoholics, for alcoholics, at the Cleveland Public Library.”
    Clarence emphasized the impact of A.A. by noting that:

The several thousand people, (over 700 in Cleveland alone) who have thus far found life and hope through this means, is ample testimony that the day of miracles has not passed.