The Disease Concept of Alcoholism

According to alcohol historian William White, The disease concept of alcoholism “stands as the most widely cited (and least read) literary artifact of the modern alcoholism movement.” Published by Hillhouse Press (an affiliate of the Yale Center of Alcohol Studies) on behalf of the Christopher D. Smithers Foundation in 1960, E. M. Jellinek’s seminal book remains one of the top-cited works in the field.

The Digital Alcohol Studies Archive has extensively documented the origins of the book, including funding, publishing, and copyright, thanks to the documentation preserved by its editor, Mark Keller, in the Mark Keller Papers donated to the Center by his daughter.

The copyright registration of the book identifies the publisher as Hillhouse Press, incorporated at the address 432 Temple Street, New Haven, CT. The publisher of many publications of the Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol at the Yale University Center of Alcohol Studies, for all of its name changes, still publishes a scholarly journal, its successor, now called the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs at the Rutgers Center of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs published by Alcohol Research Documentation, Inc., a not-for-profit organization affiliated with Rutgers University.