Irsay Family to Auction Original 'Big Book' Manuscript at Christie's

Overview

• The Irsay daughters announced on Wednesday that Jim Irsay's original 1939 working manuscript of Alcoholics Anonymous will be the final lot in The Jim Irsay Collection sale at Christie's Rockefeller Center on July 1 with an estimate of $1 million to $2 million.
• Jim Irsay bought the manuscript for $2.4 million in 2018 and the typescript includes extensive handwritten notes and edits by author Bill Wilson and early AA member Henry Parkhurst.
• The family said the Big Book was the one item Irsay never wanted to sell and that they will donate 100 percent of the manuscript's sale proceeds to philanthropic causes important to him, including work on addiction and mental‑health stigma.
• Christie's calls the manuscript a 'crown jewel' and points to the book's outsized influence: the published Big Book introduced the 12‑step program, has sold more than 30 million copies, and is listed by the Library of Congress among 88 'Books That Shaped America.'
• The lot follows a series of high‑grossing sales from the Irsay collection and could attract collectors and institutions, but auction house estimates suggest the manuscript may sell for less than Irsay paid in 2018 which would affect the final philanthropic return.