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Be Prepared with Mary Evans Picture Library and the Scout Association Mary Evans Picture Library, the UK's leading source for historical images, is delighted to announce an agreement to represent images from the archive of the Scout Association. The collection, which contains over 100,000 images is a fascinating mix of material charting the history of the boy scout movement and includes photographs of international scouting associations, oil paintings by Edwardian artist Ernest Stafford Carlos and watercolours by Robert Baden-Powell and his family. The Scouting movement was founded by Robert Baden- Powell, a Lieutenant General in the British Army, in August 1907 when he organised an experimental scouting camp at Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour, southern England. Baden-Powell was keen to try out ideas from his book, "Scouting for Boys" published in 1908, which was based on his earlier military books on reconnaissance and survival formulated in South Africa during postings there. The 20 or so boys from different social backgrounds taking part in the camp at Brownsea Island practised woodcraft, the art of thriving in woodland by hunting, fishing, camping and survival techniques, a core skill of the Scouting ethos. "Scouting for Boys" went on to become the fourth best-selling book of the 20th century, and the Scouting movement rapidly went from strength to strength establishing itself throughout the British Empire and beyond. A parallel organisation for girls, the Girl Guides, was introduced in 1910. A century on and Scouting and Guiding together have a world-wide membership of 41 million. Based at Gilwell Park, near Chingford, north London, the Scout Association archive is the primary resource for anyone interested in the history of the movement. "Representing the archive of the Scout Association continues Mary Evans Picture Library's firm commitment to making specialist heritage collections available," says Paul Brown, Managing Director of Mary Evans. "The first images are now online and are just a taster of we can expect from this fascinating and historically important archive." A selection of the first images from this collection can be viewed here. For further information, or licensing queries, please contact: |
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