Twenty Four Hours A Day 1954 Hazelden First Green Cover Alcoholics Anonymous AA

Description: Twenty-Four Hours A Day HAZELDEN 341 No. Dale St., St. Paul 3, Minn. First Printing 1954 Hazelden, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1954, not dated, first printing based on green cover color, 372 + [2 Memo] pages. No apparent writing in the book and no missing pages, wrinkling on half-title and last memo pages, the cover has normal wear and soiling with rubs at the corners and spine edges, the binding is tight, and the text pages are age-toned. Contains advertising page for Hazelden men's retreat center with the pictorial page of retreat center and boat dock. Unique to this printing are the capital "A: in "Twenty-Four Hours A Day" and HAZELDEN on the front cover. Twenty-Four Hours A Day was the first book of daily meditations for alcoholics. The book was authored by Richmond Walker, an A member who joined AA in May 1942 in Boston. After relocating to Florida, Walker produced the first version of the book based on notes taken from other reading that inspired him, including "Alcoholics Anonymous" and "God Calling" by Two Listeners, from which he obtained the publisher's permission. It was Walker's hope that the daily reading helped members of AA to find the power they needed to stay sober another twenty-four hours. Walker published Twenty-Four Hours A Day from 1948 through 1953. Getting up in age, he offered the book to Bill Wilson for publication. However, the offer was declined in 1954 by the fourth General Service Conference, the body representing the group conscience of AA members. This decision was in line with AA's newly-adopted tradition of non-affiliation. Richmond Walker then offered publication to Patrick Butler, a man who helped financially rescue a floundering Hazelden in 1951, and served as its president for a number of years. Acquiring the publishing rights launched Hazelden's publishing arm, which would become the world's leading publisher of materials for people suffering addiction and the professionals that treat them. The building that houses Hazelden's publishing staff is called the Richmond Walker Center. Except for minor editing and grammatical and spelling corrections, the wording of the meditations found in the book are still as they appeared in 1954. A reading for February 29 was added in the early 1990s, and the Serenity Prayer were added later. This is the first Hazelden printing 1954 with a green cover, as indicated in "Making the Little Black Book: Inside the Working Manuscript of Twenty-Four Hours A Day" published by Hazelden in 2012. The history book states on page 265: When Hazelden first published the Little Black Book, its front cover color was green, which was soon changed to black when Walker expressed that he felt nostalgic about the book having a black cover, the way he had originally published it. The opening spread of the green-colored edition featured a promotion for Hazelden's treatment center, described as a "Country retreat for men with a drinking problem ... Good food is a specialty ... Reasonable Rates." The ad was removed when the book was printed in black cover, showing a price of $1.50 at the bottom of the front title page. In addition to this book, Richmond Walker also published "For Drunks Only: One Man's Reaction to Alcoholics Anonymous" in 1945 and "The 7 Points of Alcoholics Anonymous" in 1956. Richmond Walker passed away March 25, 1965. Note: The 341 No. Dale St., St. Paul Minnesota facility, located in the Rondo neighborhood, was demolished for the construction of I-94.

Price: 1250 USD

Location: Middlefield, Ohio

End Time: 2024-11-06T17:42:44.000Z

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