1949 Drinking’s Not the Problem Charles Clapp Jr. Early AA Recovery Hardcover

DESCRIPTION

An original 1949 hardcover edition of Drinking's Not the Problem by Charles Clapp Jr., published in New York by Thomas Y. Crowell Company — an uncommon early work with a particularly interesting place in the literature surrounding Alcoholics Anonymous and twentieth-century alcoholism recovery.

Clapp was associated with the Oxford Group and the early circle surrounding Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder Bill Wilson. His relationship to that history was personal rather than merely academic: a copy of Drinking's Not the Problem remains in the library at Stepping Stones, the historic home of Bill and Lois Wilson, personally inscribed by Clapp to the couple in July 1949.

The book examines alcoholism through the provocative premise announced by its title — that drinking itself is not the entirety of the underlying problem — placing the volume among the early postwar literature attempting to understand alcoholism, behavior and recovery.

This copy retains its original dark navy cloth boards with gilt lettering along the spine. No dust jacket is present.

An appealing addition to a collection devoted to Alcoholics Anonymous history, the Oxford Group, addiction and recovery literature, temperance, psychology or mid-century social history.

WORTH NOTING

Published by Thomas Y. Crowell Company in 1949. Contemporary bibliographic records independently confirm the original publication information.

Charles Clapp Jr. had direct connections to the early AA movement. His earlier Drunks Are Square Pegs was personally inscribed to Bill Wilson in 1942, and Drinking's Not the Problem was represented in Bill and Lois Wilson's personal library at Stepping Stones.

This particular copy is not represented as having belonged to, or having been associated with, Bill or Lois Wilson.

No dust jacket is present.

MEASUREMENTS

Approximately 8" high × 5.5" wide × 0.85" deep.

Measurements are approximate.

CONDITION

Pre-owned 1949 hardcover in vintage condition.

Visible age-related wear includes rubbing and wear to the cloth boards and fraying/wear at the head and tail of the spine. Pages show expected age toning.

No dust jacket is present.

Please review all photographs closely for binding, boards, spine, gilt lettering, page edges and interior condition.

FROM THE HOUSE

Some books become more interesting when you discover who else had one on the shelf.

Published only a decade after the founding text of Alcoholics Anonymous, this unassuming navy volume belonged to the same formative world of recovery thought — and another copy, inscribed by Charles Clapp himself, found its way into the personal library of Bill and Lois Wilson.

Ours carries no such provenance, but it carries the same words.

~ Maxwell