The original working text for Alcoholics Anonymous is at Christie’s in New York on July 1 with an estimate of $1 million – $2 million. The Big Book – which launched the 12 steps movement – changed countless lives, became one of the most influential works of the 20th century, sold more than 30 million copies and was classified by the Library of Congress as one of the 88 “Books that Shaped America”. The document, complete with extensive handwritten notations and edits by authors Bill Wilson (1895-1971) and Hank Parkhurst (1895-1954), is from the collection of late billionaire and ceo of the Indianapolis Colts Jim Irsay. Wilson was a businessman who by 1934 had lost his career on Wall St., his reputation and his health. Parkhurst was a former Standard Oil executive and gifted organiser who met Wilson in New York in 1937 after getting sober.