Boy Scout Handbooks
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.
