The Union Jack
The Union Jack – The Christmas Gift Book of The Boys’ Brigade, by the Rev. Professor Marcus Dods was published in 1892.
The Union Jack – The Annual Report for 1892-93 recorded: The Christmas Gift-Book for the year was the spirited address on The Union Jack, by the Rev. Professor Marcus Dods, D.D., which was very warmly appreciated, and of which over 20,000 copies were issued. Following the good example set by Professor Drummond in the previous year, the Committee offered prizes to the Boys of the Brigade for the best answer to the question:- “Whom do you consider the bravest man mentioned in the Bible (Jesus Christ excepted)? State your reasons for thinking so.”
The result of the Competition was announced in No.1 of The Boys’ Brigade Magazine, which was published in the month of May, and of which over 8,000 copies were issued.
Christmas books – The late Victorian period was a time of rapidly increasing literacy, with The Boys’ Brigade playing its part in this progress with the publication in 1889 of a Christmas Gift book for Boys. The primary purpose of this book was to encourage Boys to read, and the first publication featured 16 pages of text interspersed with illustrations. This set a pattern for future books which continued until 1899. These books proved very successful, and reached a good proportion of Boys in the Brigade. Few of these books now exist, and it is fortunate that enough copies remain to be reproduced and read on the BB virtual museum as a flip book below.
