The founding document of Alcoholics Anonymous, known to adherents as the "Big Book", has sold at auction for $US2.4 million to billionaire and Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay.
The auction house Profiles in History announced the sale of the manuscript with handwritten notes from the group's founding fathers.
Irsay told The Associated Press he plans to build a special display for the manuscript and display it for several months a year at Alcoholics Anonymous' headquarters in New York.
He says he attempted to buy the manuscript when it was up for auction several years ago, and he is thrilled at the opportunity to share it publicly.
Irsay said he considers himself a steward for the manuscript, which he said he may also send out on tour so it can be seen by more people.
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"I've held it. I've looked through it. It is absolutely mind-blowing," he said.
Irsay said he wanted to relieve the stigma of alcoholism and addiction.
"The only way we stay sober is to give it away," Irsay said.
"I think it'll help a lot of people," he said. "That's the reason I'm doing it."
He said he attended his first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting 25 years ago, and marvels at the reach of the organisation and what its founders built.
A website devoted to the auction describes the manuscript as a "Bible to millions" that has sold 30 million copies since 1939, been translated into 43 languages and has been ranked by the Library of Congress as a top non-fiction book that shaped America.
