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The Boy Scout Handbook
1910-Today
A Comparison of the Contents from the 1910 "Original" Edition through today's Eleventh Edition
A Monograph by Jeff Snowden
Scoutmaster, Troop 97 BSA
Third Edition, February 1999, updated to March 2003
(1st Edition published October 1980)
(2nd Edition published February 1990)
Copyright, 1980, 1990, 1999 by Jeff Snowden
Table of Contents
- General—Introduction, Terminology, Titles and Authors, Editions, Distinguishing Early Editions, Printings, Materials, Bindings, Cover Art, Advertising, Size, Arrangement of Handbook Contents, The Most Common Subjects, The Future—A Prediction, Sources of Old Handbooks
- Original Edition—A Handbook of Woodcraft, Scouting, and Life-craft (1910-1911)
- 1st & 2nd Editions—The Official Handbook for Boys (1911-1927)
- 3rd & 4th Editions—Revised Handbook for Boys (1927-1948)
- 5th Edition—Handbook for Boys (1948-1959)
- 6th & 7th Editions—Boy Scout Handbook (1959-1972)
- 8th Edition—Scout Handbook (1972-1979)
- 9th Edition—Official Boy Scout Handbook (1979-1990)
- 10th Edition—Boy Scout Handbook (1990-1998)
- 11th Edition—Boy Scout Handbook (1998-20??)
- Table Comparing the Contents of Every Edition (PDF file)
- All Boy Scout Handbook Covers, Front & Back
General
Introduction
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) recognized from its founding the value of a comprehensive handbook for its members, publishing its first permanent Handbook in August, 1911. Even during the year it took to standardize the American program, the BSA hurriedly printed a temporary handbook, combining Chief Scout Ernest Thompson Seton's Birch-Bark Roll and Baden-Powell's Scouting for Boys. Since 1910, the BSA has published this one temporary Handbook edition (which they call the Original Edition) and eleven permanent Handbook editions.
The Handbook has changed greatly since 1910, but much of the content of the early handbooks is still recognizable in today's edition. It is fascinating to examine the similarities and differences among the editions, what made each edition unique, and the trends that developed over the Handbook's history.
This third edition of the Handbook's story has been revised and updated throughout, especially to add the BSA's new Eleventh Edition, published in December, 1998. It also adds a complete "Collector's Listing" for each Edition, telling how to identify every printing.
If you find any errors or have suggestions to improve this study, or if you'd like to share Scouting ideas, I'd like to hear from you. Send me an e-mail!
Terminology
In this study, the term "BSA" stands for Boy Scouts of America and refers either to the organization's national headquarters or to its national staff. The term "Handbook" (with a capital 'H') always refers to the Boy Scout Handbook.
Titles and Authors
Boy Scout Handbooks often had three different titles: one on the title page, another on the cover, and yet another on the spine. Usually, the wording on the title page shows the most complete and accurate title, and that is the title used in this study. Until 1959, the Handbooks used some variation of the title Handbook for Boys. Since then, they have used some variation of the title Boy Scout Handbook.
Before 1959, each section of the Handbook was written by an expert in that field, sometimes a BSA employee and sometimes an outside expert. (Experts also contributed chapters to the Original Edition, though Seton and Baden-Powell wrote most of it.) A BSA editorial committee maintained full control over content and direction of all the permanent Handbooks, although this control was generally minimal and often careless through the first four editions (frequently allowing errors to go undetected for many years and sometimes allowing the contents of one section to contradict the contents of another section). Since 1959, a single author has written each Handbook (William "Green Bar Bill" Hillcourt wrote three of these six editions, and Robert Birkby has written the last two).
Editions
Defining "edition" is not as easy as it might seem. You'd think a new edition would differ from a previous edition in major ways. But the BSA has changed editions three times without rewriting the Handbook. And sometimes, there have been greater changes between successive printings of the same edition than between two editions. The BSA says that, "Except for the first and second editions, changes in the requirements for advancement have been the primary reasons for changes in the editions of the Handbook." But advancement changes often produced only minor modifications. More recently, BSA practice has been to revise the Handbook about "every eight or nine years to include the latest information about Scouting and outdoor adventures."
As a result, the Handbook consists of only nine truly different manuals divided into an Original Edition and eleven permanent editions:
- Original Edition—A Handbook of Woodcraft, Scouting, and Life-craft
- 1st & 2nd Editions—The Official Handbook for Boys
- 3rd & 4th Editions—Revised Handbook for Boys
- 5th Edition—Handbook for Boys
- 6th & 7th Editions—Boy Scout Handbook
- 8th Edition—Scout Handbook
- 9th Edition—Official Boy Scout Handbook
- 10th Edition—Boy Scout Handbook [the first "repeat" title]
- 11th Edition—Boy Scout Handbook
Distinguishing Early Editions
There are special problems in trying to distinguish the 1st through 4th Editions, because the BSA did not adopt the current system of edition numbering until 1948. At that time, they could have saved a lot of confusion by calling the new 1948 Handbook the 3rd Edition. Instead, they chose to call it the 5th Edition, even though the BSA had published only two truly different Handbooks prior to it.
From 1911 to 1927, the Handbook was entitled The Official Handbook for Boys, with printings numbered consecutively from 1 to 37 (plus two "reprints" and three "special" printings for a total of 42 printings). From 1927 to 1948, the title was Revised Handbook for Boys (most printings were confusingly entitled Revised Handbook for Boys, First Edition), with printings numbered from 1 to 39. Yet in 1948, the BSA retroactively divided these two manuals into four editions, and BSA records are unclear as to exactly where they intended to divide the first four editions.
As a result, neither collectors nor the BSA are sure where to divide the early editions. The BSA used to consider the 2nd printing of the 1911 Handbook a new edition, even though few changes were made in the three months between the 1st and 2nd printings; now the BSA shows these printings as part of the same edition. Most collectors agree that a new edition begins with the 11th printing (1914), when the cover picture changes and the cover first states "Revised Edition." The BSA for some reason lists the 13th printing (1915) rather than the 11th as the beginning of a new Edition, even though the major changes were made in the 11th printing. At least everyone agrees that the 1927 Handbook starts a new edition. Finally, the BSA used to consider all printings of the 1927 Handbook as one edition; now they show a new edition beginning with the 33rd printing (1940), which has a new cover and major content changes.
For simplicity, and because it generally matches content change, I will divide the four editions by their separate cover pictures, the system used by most collectors:
- Edition 1—The Official Handbook for Boys, printings 1-10
- Edition 2—The Official Handbook for Boys, printings 11-37
- Edition 3—Revised Handbook for Boys, printings 1-32
- Edition 4—Revised Handbook for Boys, printings 33-39
Printings
"Printing" refers to each separate printing run. This is not always as obvious as it sounds, since the BSA did not carefully identify early printings, sometimes called a printing a "reprint" of a previous printing, and called most early printings "editions." Especially in the Handbook's early years, there are frequent variations within a printing run, sometimes due to printer errors affecting only part of the run, sometimes due to last-minute corrections not made in all copies, and sometimes due to the fact that ads did not always appear in the full run. As a result, collectors often identify several variants for many printings.
Because of poor record keeping in the early years, and frequent printing overruns, nobody knows exactly how many Handbooks have been printed. Most of the Handbooks include a line showing a grand total of all the Handbooks printed since 1910, but this is a best guess that has been adjusted many times. One adjustment never reflected in other official BSA printing records was the addition of 785,000 copies apparently resulting from undocumented overruns of the 1927-1948 Handbook.
There have been about 135 printings of the eleven permanent Handbook editions, and there have been only eight years when no copies were printed (1947, 1974, 1978, 1987, 1989, 1993, 1995, & 2001). Until 1938, most printings were about 100,000 copies. Since 1938, no printing has been less than 200,000, and most were 350,000 or more. The smallest printing run was only 5250 copies (December, 1911). The record for the largest single printing is 1.5 million (June, 1972, the first printing of the 8th Edition). The edition with the most copies in print is the 5th (6.4 million), although the related 6th/7th Editions have a combined total of 8.2 million, and the related 3rd/4th Editions (considered a single edition by some) have a combined total of 7.2 million. The editions with the fewest copies in print are the Original (68,900) and the 1st (313,500).
Materials
The vast majority of Handbook copies are soft cover, though most printings have included a small number of hard cover copies. Covers are usually heavy paper, though leather, vinyl, and oilcloth have been used, generally on limited-run books. Pages have always been some shade of off-white, and the typeface has usually been printed in black ink (except the 3rd Edition, which was printed entirely in green ink).
Bindings
Until about 1970, all Handbooks were bound using stitched signatures (the way most hard cover books are bound). Starting with the late printings of the 7th Edition (about 1971), the BSA has used the cheaper "perfect" binding, where each page is glued directly to the spine (like a pad of paper). As a result, modern Handbooks fall apart all too readily, given the rugged use most Scouts put them to.
Cover Art
Since 1910, the Handbooks have had 14 covers: two line drawings, a color sketch, two photo montages, and nine paintings. Only three covers were not full color (Original, 1st, and early 8th Editions).
Only two artists have contributed more than one cover. Don Ross (former BSA art director) painted both covers for the 5th Edition. Norman Rockwell painted the covers for the 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 9th Editions. Interestingly, of the four Rockwell paintings, only the 6th Edition figure was specifically painted to be a Handbook cover; the other three were Brown & Bigelow annual Scout calendar pictures (Rockwell got his start working for Boys Life magazine).
All cover variants are included with the description for each Handbook Edition. I have not attempted to cover special commemorative editions or hard cover editions, but rather the standard softcover handbooks used by the Scouts.
Advertising
From 1911 through 1964, the BSA subsidized the cost of producing the Handbook by selling commercial advertising space in the Handbook. Since 1964, only the 1975/76 printings of the 8th Edition have contained ads.
Advertised products naturally have included camping-related equipment and food, sports equipment (from helmets to athletic supporters), and clothing (including shoes, sneakers, socks, and underwear). Foods have included chewing gum, sardines, Coca Cola, pancakes, shredded wheat, Lifesavers, chocolate, baking powder, baked beans, bouillon cubes, and dates. By far the most ads are for rifles and ammunition. Other promoted products have included outboard motors, cameras, bicycles and motor scooters, toy trains, watches, 3-in-One oil, Mercurochrome, and musical instruments.
A pre-1920 sampler of ads included: Minute tapioca, Excelsior shoes, Waltham watches, Kodak cameras, Steero bouillon cubes, Peters chocolate, BVD, Chiclets, and Heinz (baked beans & spaghetti). Ads from the 1960s included: Eveready batteries, Aunt Jemima pancakes, Lionel trains, Johnson and Evinrude outboard motors, Wrigley gum, Reynolds Wrap, and both Cushman and Harley-Davidson motor scooters.
Size
Actual Handbook dimensions are shown in the description of each Edition. Starting out somewhat smaller than today's Handbook, the Handbook became progressively smaller and thicker, reaching minimum size in 1944. Then the 6th Edition (1959) increased significantly in size. The 8th through 10th Editions were slightly smaller in width (but the 8th and 10th Editions were the thickest handbooks, at 25 mm/1"). The current 11th Edition is the tallest (though not the thickest) Handbook. Despite its large size, it has the fewest pages of recent Editions (the 7th Edition is the last Handbook with fewer pages).
The type size in the Handbooks until 1959 was fairly small (about 8-point); since 1959, type size has been about 9-point (except the 8th Edition, which was a fairly large 11-point). [The "point" is a standard printers measure equal to about 1/72" (0.4 mm).]
Arrangement of Handbook Contents
The Handbooks arrange their subject matter in two broad ways: by rank or by subject (see Table Comparing the Contents of Every Edition (PDF file)).
Four editions (3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th) arrange their contents by rank (Tenderfoot section, Second Class section, etc.). First aid information, for example, might be divided into three parts, one part appearing in the Tenderfoot section of the Handbook, one in the Second Class section, and one in the First Class section.
Six editions (1st, 2nd, 5th, 8th, 9th, 10th, plus the Original Edition) arrange their contents primarily by subject area, with generally no direct relationship to the advancement requirements. Here, all first aid information would appear in only one place, even though it might be required for two or three ranks.
The current 11th Edition actually does a little of both, having chapters for each rank, but also including chapters for first aid and other skills. Here, the chapters on each rank cover many of the skills for that rank, and provide page references for the more detailed sections elsewhere in the book.
The Most Common Subjects
The Table Comparing the Contents of Every Edition (PDF file) lists a broad range of Scouting subjects and shows which Handbook editions they appear in. Relatively few subjects are common to all eleven editions, primarily:
- how to become a Scout
- requirements for all ranks (though not always a good explanation of how to advance)
- Scout Oath, Law, & Motto (but the Slogan does not appear until 1948)
- Scout Sign & Salute (the Handclasp is omitted from the 1st Edition)
- some patrol information (name, call, etc)
- fire building, camping, and cooking
- swimming
- knots (only five knots are common to all editions—square knot, sheet bend, bowline, clove hitch, two half hitches)
- citizenship, including flag courtesy and history
- physical fitness and health, including at least some discussion of puberty/sex
- at least some information on Scouting awards other than ranks (50 Miler Award, religious awards, heroism medals, etc)
Here is a list summarizing when some common subjects first appeared in the Handbook (though many of these subjects have long appeared elsewhere, such as in the Fieldbook and in merit badge pamphlets):
- Original Edition (1910)—making fire without matches
- 1st Edition (1911)—alcohol & tobacco, first aid, hiking, puberty
- 2nd Edition (1914)—conservation, knife & axe, mapping, silent signals
- 3rd Edition (1927)—compass, cooking without utensils
- 4th Edition (1940)—drug abuse
- 5th Edition (1948)—Scout Slogan, edible wild plants, lashings, first wilderness code of conduct ("outdoor code")
- 6th Edition (1959)—mouth-to-mouth resuscitation
- 7th Edition (1965)—first non-white faces
- 8th Edition (1972)—discussion of ethnic groups, modern conservation practices
- 9th Edition (1979)—splicing, backpacking (in addition to simple hiking)
- 10th Edition (1990)—bicycling, camping stoves, water filters, organ donor awareness
- 11th Edition (1998)—GPS (satellite ground positioning system), the Internet
The Future?—A Prediction
When will the next Edition of the Handbook appear? I know the BSA want to issue new Handbooks at least every ten years, and I'm sure the BSA will want to issue a special 12th Edition in time for their 100th Anniversary in 2010, so I would expect to see the 12th Edition out by 2009. They may even have a video version of the 12th Edition, perhaps usable on campouts with a battery-operated official BSA video player (I'm only half joking).
We can look forward to enjoying future Handbook editions, noting how each reflects the nature of Scouting and of the youth of its time. We can be pleased or upset at the many changes in Scouting and in our society that the Handbooks reflect, but we can feel satisfied that the heart of the Scouting program has remained intact since 1910, and will certainly still be there in 2010.
Sources of Old Handbooks
There are two main ways to find old Scout Handbooks. One is to frequent old/used book stores, which often have a special section for Scouting-related items. The other is to use one of the Scouting memorabilia dealers. These often advertize in the back of Scouting magazine, and some also now have websites (I found several by searching in Yahoo under the keyword "memorabilia"). One such dealer that I have had good experience with is "The Stevensons" (www.thestevensons.com).
[details about each Handbook Edition]
Last Revision to This Page: 22 March 2005
Copyright © 1980, 1990, 1999 by Jeff Snowden
Web format © 1996-2005 by Troop 97 BSA
