Sotheby's is planning to auction an original working draft of the A.A. Big Book written by Bill Wilson, one of the fellowship's founders, the New York Times reported June 14.
The auction house has valued the 161-page manuscript at $300,000 to $500,000. The manuscript contains notations written in the margins from dozens of people who reviewed the draft, including alcoholics and psychologists.
The auction is scheduled for June 18, but some people say that the historical document is priceless and should be placed in an archive for scholars and the general public to access.
"I think these things really belong to the fellowship of A.A.," said Eileen Giuliani, executive director of the Stepping Stones Foundation, which maintains the home and the documents of Wilson and his wife, Lois Wilson, as a museum in Bedford Hills, N.Y.
