Aa history Lovers 2009 moderators Nancy Olson and Glenn F. Chesnut page
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| part of November 1938.
About this time we almost had a disaster in our still wobbly group but it later
turned out to be a Godsend. Bill and Hank had distributed quite a few copies of the original manuscript to doctors, psychiatrists and ministers to get a last minute reaction. One of these went to Dr. Howard, Chief psychiatrist for the State of New Jersey. He became greatly interested and enthusiastic, but was highly critical of several things in the book, for after reading it he told us there was entirely too much "Oxfordism" and that it was too demanding. This is where the disaster nearly overtook us, for it nearly threw Bill into a terrific mental uproar to have his "baby" pulled apart by an outside "screwball" psychiatrist, who in our opinion knew nothing about alcoholism. After days of wrangling between Bill, Hank, Fitz and myself, Bill was finally convinced that all positive and "must" statements should be eliminated and in their place to use the word "suggest" and the expression "we found we had to." Another thing changed in this last rewriting was qualifying the word "God" with
the phrase "as we understand Him." (This was one of my few contributions to the
book.) In the final finishing the fellowship angle was enlarged and emphasized. After many arguments and uproars, the manuscript was finally finished, complete, in December 1938. We now had one real problem - no money.
posted on Sep 3, 2004 1939: Feb/Mar (?), The distributed multilith copies were returned, but reader's comments produced few alterations in the final text. A major change did occur at the suggestion of a Montclair, NJ psychiatrist, Dr Howard, who recommended toning down the use of "musts" and changing them to "we ought" or "we should."
Dr Silkworth and Dr Tiebout offered similar advice. (AACOA 167-168 NG 67-77) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Message 2396 from "Art Sheehan" posted on May 10, 2005 During Feb/Mar 1939, multilith copies of the Big Book manuscript, distributed for review, were returned. Reader's comments produced few alterations in the final text. A major change did occur at the suggestion of a "Dr Howard, a well-known psychiatrist of Montclair, NJ" who recommended toning down the use of
"musts" and changing them to "we ought" or "we should." Dr Silkworth (a neurologist) and Dr Tiebout (a psychiatrist) offered similar advice. (re AA Comes of Age [AACOA] pgs 167-168).
Sep 3, 2005 [Hi Old Bob, Here's another piece of information that would probably be of interest regarding the multilith. Again the source is Black Sheep and its source was an exact transcription from GSO Archives mf of original I made in the early 90's. On February 21, 1939 Rockerfeller Foundation exec Frank Amos wrote to co-exec Mr. Richardson,] [additions, corrections or deletions always in brackets] [...] "The photo-litho copies 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. If you will let me or Bill know how many of those photo-litho copies you would like to have, he will see to it that you get them at once. They are quite legible, but of course are put up in cheap form and cannot be compared in attractiveness and readibility to the final printed volume." [ . . .] STOP [I have no notation of the original reported letter from Dr. Howard, a psychiatrist from Montclair N.J. where Hank (and around that time Bill as well having to vacate Brooklyn Heights, and probably also Jim as per his story) lived at this time. This is generally refered to as the primary source of objection to the "directions" and "you musts" that are prevelent throughout the "multi-liths". The date of this correspondence would be helpful to track down and it may be in Ernie Kurtz's, Not God, footnotes.] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [Merton M. believed that "Dr. Howard" was a pseudonym] Message 3082 from Jan 22, 2006 bout a month ago Chuck P. (no known relationship to Hank P. at this time) made available to me the 4 pages from the Sotheby's catalog where the heavily annotated manuscript that was sold for well over $1Million appeared. Having personally owned numerous handwritten documents that were given to me by Hank's living relatives and viewed numerous other of Hank's original documents at GSO, Stepping Stones and Clarence's letters from Hank now housed at Brown University, I've concluded (to my own satisfaction anyway) that except for the much later dated page signed by Bill the vast majority of the commentary was pened by Hank P. Hank had 3 different styles of handwriting, one being block letters (which I call H1) the second being a very neatly written style (which I call H2 and somewhat rare) and third a rapid scribble (which I call H3 and the most typical. On the bottom of several of the pages the initials HGP appears (Hank's initials the G. standing for Giffen). Also note that the well known Dr. Howard (See PIO) appears several times and it seems very likely that this is the manuscript lent to Dr. Howard for review. Dr. Howard was the individual who told them that the book was all wrong and they must remove the "You musts" from the book and replace it with more suggestive language. Note that my review of the Montclair City Directory from 1937-1940 revealed no Dr. Howard and its quite likely that this was a pseudonym. (also his first name is unknown and he seems to have vanished from all historical accounts of the era after the review). Jim Burwell says in his history something to the effect that he was the head psychiatrist of New Jersey, though I could not find such a position to have existed then. Any doctor at the time of the writing of the book (other than Dr. Silkworth) would be reluctant to attaching his name to this idea or book. There are references to some of the material being "too groupy" and to the Oxford Group explicitly demonstrating that there was a perception that the book should avoid such appearence.(at least by Hank).
of my analysis of the majority of the handwriting being that of Hank. I've also only seen evidence regarding these 4 pages so it goes without saying that I have no knowlege of what appears on any of the other pages.
having viewed the document or fascimiles in the above-referenced auction catelog).
demonstrates that their is still original material out there that hasn't been noted by anyone.
Jan 26, 2006 On the name of the "Chief Psychiatrist of NJ" I suggest Marcus A. Curry, Chief at the NJ State Asylum for the Insane at Greystone Park during the years 1936-40 (from the Greystone Park Annual Reports 1936-40 in the NJ State Archives). -- Jared Lobdell ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Message 3111 from "ArtSheehan" Jan 27, 2006 Oh how I would love to find out, for certain, who "Dr Howard" was. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ++++Message 6029. . . . . . . . . . . . Background: Dr. Howard question (Part 2 of 3) From: Glenn Chesnut . . . . . . . . . . . . 9/20/2009 2:23:00 PM
Jan 29, 2006 Re: The Dr. Howard/Hank P. manuscript Hi Rick, As Stated in my original post this appears to be the draft edited by Hank P. and Dr. Howard. It does not appear to be anything like a draft that a publisher could work from and if you look closely at the 4 pages from the Sotheby's Catelog I think you will agree. Its quite obviously an intermediate sort of draft as it doesn't remotely agree with the finished product. Also as stated previously there are two handwritten references to Dr. Howard and most of the handwriting is Hank P.'s in my opinion. I disagee with the Sotheby assertion that this is the final copy that went to Cornwall Press. This document is far more significant historically. I am quite cautious with such an assertion as their experts are quite meticulous.
secondhand reporters tell us. All the best!! -merton ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Message 3119 from Jan 29, 2006 Re: Printer's Copy and Dr. Howard The name Curry is extremely interesting as it was one of names mentioned by Bill and Hank during their 2 week stock redemption debate, as a creditor of Henry G. Parkhurst, Inc. (unincorporated in reality)(the name Honor Dealers was not used in this discussion, Hank' contention was that he was principally liable as the company bore his namesake so he owned the furniture. Bill pointed out that as treasurer, an officer, he was equally liable). One of the other creditors was Sinclair Oil.
catelog its my very stong opinion that this wasn't a "publisher's draft" but rather an intermittent draft and is mostly in Hank P's and very likely the mysterious Dr. Howard's hand. The one page in Bill's hand was written many years after publication. Hopefully more people can view the photo fascimiles from the catelog to understand my point. If there's anyone living in the Essex or Morris County area's please check the various city directories for Dr. Marcus A. Curry.
Dr. Howard. Greystone Park yielded several very early members including Morgan R., from Glen Ridge, who spoke on the radio about AA. Source - documents in GSO Archives 1939-40 for unpublished yet Black Sheep manuscript)
Mar 22, 2006 "Pass It On" (page 200) ... states "Bill wrote at least ten of the opening chapters of the book; there is some reason to believe that "To Employers" may have been written by Hank."
Ruth
Hock (a first person observer). Merton M, a member of this forum, is researching a comprehensive history of AA in New Jersey (which was started by Hank P). Merton also attributes authorship of "To Employers" to Hank P based on his research (and he is a bit of a stickler for accurate details) .... The idea that Bill only wrote the first paragraph of "To Employers" in no way detracts from or diminishes his role in the overall production of the Big Book. Bill's methodology for writing the Big Book chapters was for him to develop an outline of the chapters on a yellow legal pad and then later dictate narrative details to Ruth Hock to type up drafts.
editing and changes ....
where everyone who was a member at the time (1938-1939) had an opportunity to directly contribute to shaping both the wording and style of the book. This also included non-alcoholic friends of AA: 1. Dr Silkworth wrote a letter of support for AA for use in fundraising for the book. The letter, and additional narrative from Dr Silkworth, were incorporated into the chapter "The Doctor's Opinion."
then and today, make up a substantial and very important portion of the Big Book (notwithstanding the tiresome "first 164 pages" mantra that circulates within AA). 3. Jim B (whose story is "Vicious Cycle") suggested the phrases "God as we understand Him" and "Power greater than ourselves" be added to the Steps and basic text.
book to be changed from "must" to "should" or "ought." 5. Tom Uzzell, a friend of Hank P, an editor at Collier's and a member of the NYU faculty, edited the manuscript which was variously estimated as 600-800 pages (including personal stories). Uzzell reduced it to approximately 400 pages. Most cuts came from the personal stories, which had also been edited by Jim S of Akron and Bill W and Hank P in NY. The Big Book is a product of informed group conscience and, as a consequence, it turned out to be a very remarkable product. By his own admission, Bill wrote that his role eventually changed from one of primary author to umpire. Cheers Arthur ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Message 4377 from "schaberg43" Jun 12, 2007 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.
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 11-1/2 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).
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.
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."
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.)
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.'
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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ++++Message 6030. . . . . . . . . . . . Background: Dr. Howard question (Part 3 of 3) From: Glenn Chesnut . . . . . . . . . . . . 9/20/2009 2:25:00 PM
Dr. James Wainwright Howard from Montclair, New Jersey]
Jun 14, 2007 Re: Some Notes on the AA Original Manuscript Up for Auction Bill, Thanks for your observations...my spine was tingling! I found the following Dr's that might fit your question: Dr James Wainwright Howard from Montclair, NJ graduated P&S in 1919 Dr Charles Russell Witherspoon from Rochester, NY graduated Uof P in 1898 No mention of a Dr. Bevoise [any spelling]) in NY, NJ or CT in 1936 Doug B. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Message 4409 from "Old Bill" posted by "Fiona Dodd" Jun 26, 2007
the Original Manuscript, there was a request here for more information on Jim Burwell's copy of the Original Manuscript and I will try to supply as much detail about it below as possible. My Lady Sara and I are the current owners of the Burwell copy of the "Original Manuscript" -- one of the multilith copies of the proposed text of the Big Book that were circulated in late 1938 and early 1939 for review and comments .... The book has been rebound twice. Once at some point in the past, Jim Burwell had the book rebound with a uniform black cloth binding that had the title "Alcoholics / Anonymous // Book No. 2. / of the / First Hundred Mimeographed / Copies" on the front cover in gilt lettering. By 1993, this second binding was in need of replacement so an identical looking black cloth binding (with exactly the same front cover title information) was created by Ron M. The first black cloth binding has been separately preserved along with the original endpapers from that binding .... The unique features of this copy include .... VERSO OF INDEX PAGE: This originally blank page is filled with a wealth of historically important information (written in blue ink by Jim) including .... ... a final major header: "Non Alcoholics Who Were So Helpful" listing seven full names â“ Dorothy Snyder appearing in a different hand at the end. NOTE: Dr. Howard is listed here as being from "(N.J. State Hosp)" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Message 4807 from "Arthur S" Jan 20, 2008 [AA Comes of Age] On page 165: "Had we not better make a prepublication copy of the text and some of the stories and try the book out on our own membership and on every kind and class of person that has anything to do with drunks?" On page 167: "One of them came from Dr. Howard, a well-known psychiatrist of Montclair, New Jersey. He pointed out that the text of our book was too full of the words "you" and "must." [... also ...] "To make this shift throughout the text of the book would be a big job."
Sep 22, 2008 Re: Some Notes on the AA Original Manuscript Up for Auction Dr. Bevoise is Herb Debevoise (Herb D) from South Orange, New Jersey. John B - - - - Bill Schaberg had written: 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.
posted by Glenn Chesnut Oct 25, 2008
The History of Alcoholism and Alcoholics Anonymous in South Orange, New Jersey
Section 2 (of 3) idea
Harpers
who
an
advance of $1,500 "If it could help things along." This would be deducted the sale of the books when finished. Bill was uneasy with the thought that Yüklə 11,49 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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