Sixth edition (1959-1965)

Boy Scout Handbook, sixth edition (1959-1965; 3.9 million copies printed). Author credit: William Hillcourt.


The sixth edition (1959-1965) features the only Norman Rockwell illustration made specifically for a Handbook cover; the artist did it in honor of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Boy Scouts. Rockwell never quite finished his work on this painting; the background was filled in by someone else. The sixth edition of the Handbook is the first to credit a single author, William “Green Bar Bill” Hillcourt.

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