The Common Sense of Drinking (1st) Peabody 1931 (AA Alcoholics Anonymous precursor) by Richard Rogers Peabody - 1931-04

Boston, Mass: Little, Brown and Company, 1931-04. First Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. Acceptable. First Printing of the First Edition. Fair (2 of 10) There is rub-through to the corners. rubbing to corners, shelf wear, chips to spine ends/corners. Vintage bookplate inside cover. minor dampstain to top & rear corner. 191 pages. There is a vintage store sticker on the fly from a previous seller in Boston Mass. Textblock firm. 1931 in title page, Published April, 1931 on copyright page. Bagged for protection. [Seminal work on the treatment of alcoholism and a major influence on Alcoholics Anonymous's founder Bill Wilson. Richard Peabody, a Harvard educated Bostonian, pioneered psychological-based treatments of the disease; the basis for this book was his 1930 paper "Psychotheraputic Procedure in the Treatment of Chronic Alcoholism" and his articles on various medical journals of the time.] [Peabody, of the Boston blueblood scions, was an alcoholic who helped pioneer the philosophy that alcoholism was an actual disease, rather than merely a weak constitution manifesting poor behavior. He went on to provide counseling services to many in NYC. It is generally regarded that some of his phrases ("Half-way measures were to no avail"; "Once a drunkard always a drunkard." and even the step program were liberally made use of by Bill Wilson.] [Himself a recovering alcoholic, Peabody became associated with the Emmanuel Movement, centered in Boston, eventually becoming a lay therapist who "helped educate his generation of medical doctors about the hopelessness of the alcoholic's condition. He also won a very modest acceptance of lay therapists and co-workers with psychiatrists in treating alcoholics. He trained other recovering alcoholics to carry on the same work." Peabody's book grew out of his paper "Psychotherapeutic Procedure in the Treatment of Chronic Alcoholism," originally read before the Harvard Psychological Society and published in the January 1930 issue of the journal Mental Hygiene, followed by short articles on the same subject published in the June 19, 1930 issues of the New England Journal of Medicine and the October 1930 issue of the British Journal of Inebriety. His book strongly influenced Bill Wilson when he was writing the first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous, expresses many of the key AA concepts, and contains a number of passages repeated almost verbatim in the Big Book. See the discussion in chapter 8 "Richard Peabody and The Emmanuel Movement: An Early Breakthrough in Boston" in Mel B's New Wine: The Spiritual Roots of The Twelve Step Miracle (Hazeldon, 1991).] [The Common Sense of Drinking by Dick Peabody - a book that attempted to provide a solution to the 'drink problem' in the years immediately preceding the formation of Alcoholics Anonymous. This book also provided inspiration for Bill Wilson as he wrote the book Alcoholics Anonymous in late 1938 and early 1939 - with several of the important phrases and verbiage that Wilson appropriated when writing that book including: "Once a drunkard always a drunkard." (p. 82), and "Halfway measures were of no avail." (p. 99)]. * * * * * * * * * * [FREE Media Mail Shipping! Images available for any item, just ask. Any images shown next to the listing that have our www.aCastleofBooks.com watermark on them are the exact item you will receive, all other images are for reference only. Free delivery confirmation for domestic orders. Books with Author signatures are guaranteed authentic. We understand collectors needs in terms of accurate grading and proper packaging. We stand behind our descriptions 100%. All items will be shipped securely to insure that they arrive in exactly the same condition in which they left. May have small easily erasable pencil markings on first page. Our Packing Slips do not contain any pricing information so you may order items as Gifts or for Dropship without concern. We ship every Monday, Wednesday & Friday morning. All items subject to prior sale. Why the odd prices? We run a percent discount for our Biblio listings, which insures Biblio has our lowest prices online, but does give odd change.]