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The Every Boy's Library: Boy Scout Edition refers to a collection of 73 books that were published under the backing of the
The Every Boy's Library: Boy Scout Edition refers to a collection of 73 books that were published under the backing of the Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth partici ...
. Every title was selected by the Scouts Library Commission, and were branded towards Scouts and included themes that would be of interest to young boys in the Scouting movement. These re-released many classic novels as well as newer works by those associated with the Scouting movement, include Ernest Thompson Seton
Ernest Thompson Seton (born Ernest Evan Thompson August 14, 1860 – October 23, 1946) was an English-born Canadian-American author, wildlife artist, founder of the Woodcraft Indians in 1902 (renamed Woodcraft League of America), and one of ...
and Daniel Carter Beard
Daniel Carter "Uncle Dan" Beard (June 21, 1850 – June 11, 1941) was an American illustrator, author, youth leader, Georgist and social reformer who founded the Sons of Daniel Boone in 1905, which Beard later merged with the Boy Scouts of Amer ...
. This series of reprints was published by Grosset & Dunlap
Grosset & Dunlap is a New York City-based publishing house founded in 1898.
The company was purchased by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1982 and today is part of Penguin Random House through its subsidiary Penguin Group.
Today, through the Penguin ...
from 1911 with reprints and editions lasting until the mid-1930s. Each edition includes a letter "To The Public" by then Chief Scout Executive
The Chief Scout Executive is the top professional of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America. In most similar non-profit organizations, this is equivalent to the position of CEO, national executive director
Executive director is co ...
James E. West. 30 original works were commissioned, as referenced by the original list in the back page of each edition.
Many books in the library feature an olive-green, linen fabric hard cover and bears a seal red and black fleur-de-lis
The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol.
The fleur-de-lis has been used in th ...
Boy Scout emblem over two crossed signal flags, with the title at the top and author on the bottom. Some works included an original dust jacket, however intact copies are increasingly rare. There are also several versions that do not display a BSA seal, but rather have different colored hardcovers with or without and embossed seal on the spine. The series was sold as a fundraiser for the BSA, and were sold for fifty cents each. They are currently valued on average at ten dollars to most collectors.
Updated texts are available outlining the complete collection, however Boy Scout collectors frequently reference the rare Kahunas Katalog of the Every Boy's Library – privately published by Joseph Pratt Price, Jr. in 1990. This 538-page scholarly work of investigative bibliographical research provides extensive notes and detailed explanations of variations, printings and editions of all 73 titles in the series. It includes an explanation of the history of the series originally intended as a method of fund raising by the Boy Scouts of America. This work also includes a guide for estimating values of the books in this series, however it has remained elusive as many Boy Scout collectors refuse to share or assimilate the copyrighted work.
References
{{Authority control Literature of the Boy Scouts of America 1911 books