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When Was the Big Book Written?

A short history of the book that started Alcoholics Anonymous, with links into the text itself.

The short answer: the Big Book was written between 1938 and early 1939 and first published on April 10, 1939. Bill Wilson did most of the drafting; the early AA fellowship edited heavily as the chapters circulated.

The timeline

  • June 10, 1935 — Bill W. and Dr. Bob meet in Akron. AA's founding date, four years before the book that named it existed.
  • Spring 1938 — With roughly 100 sober members between New York and Akron, the fellowship decides to write down what's working. Bill begins drafting in his Brooklyn living room.
  • Summer–Fall 1938 — Bill writes Bill's Story and the program chapters. Drafts are mimeographed and passed around Akron and New York for line-by-line argument.
  • Late 1938 — The Twelve Steps are written in about thirty minutes, expanded from the six-step oral program the fellowship had been using.
  • February 1939 — A multilith "loan copy" of the manuscript is sent to 400 people — doctors, clergy, and alcoholics — for feedback. Many of the softenings from "you must" to "we suggest" happen in this round.
  • April 10, 1939 — Alcoholics Anonymous is published. 4,730 copies, priced at $3.50, printed on thick paper to make the slim book feel substantial — the origin of the nickname "Big Book."

Who actually wrote it

Bill Wilson is the primary author of the first 164 pages. But "authored by Bill" is a simplification — the fellowship revised aggressively. The most visible fingerprint of that editing process is in the language of obligation: you can see it in the 67 occurrences of "must" in the text, which is fewer than an early draft would have carried. The program is described as one of suggestion, and that choice was deliberate and contested.

Dr. William D. Silkworth contributed The Doctor's Opinion. The personal stories in the back are by early members — most anonymously. Bill's own story opens the book, and you can watch its voice shift from "I" to "we" as the chapter unfolds.

The four editions

  • 1st edition (1939) — The original. 29 personal stories in the back.
  • 2nd edition (1955) — Published at AA's 20th anniversary convention. The first 164 pages were left almost untouched — a decision the fellowship has kept to ever since. Story section rewritten.
  • 3rd edition (1976) — Again, the program text unchanged; stories updated to reflect a more diverse membership.
  • 4th edition (2001) — Current edition. The first 164 pages remain the 1939 text, word for word. This is the text that every page, word count, and quote on this site is drawn from.

Why the text was frozen

Starting with the 2nd edition, the fellowship made a conscious decision not to revise the program chapters. The reasoning was partly reverence and partly pragmatic: a text that members had staked their sobriety on could not be quietly edited under them. That's why the language in Chapter 5 reads the way it did in 1939, and why you can look up a word like alcoholic, god, or must on this site and get counts that have been stable for the better part of a century.

Keep exploring

If you want to feel the 1939 text rather than just read about it, start here: