Scouts in Bondage: And Other Violations of Literary Propriety

By Simon & Schuster

Step inside Michael Bell's antiquarian bookshop, stocked with rare and fine collectibles of infinite variety, from Book of Blank Maps, With Instructions, to Autobiography of the Best Abused Man in the World. By perusing these curious works from bygone times, inquiring readers will be rewarded with instruction on such rarely understood pursuits as Single-Handed Cruising and Girls' Interests. A treasure trove of the best of bookmaking, here is a library of laughs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Release date: Oct 2, 2007
• ISBN: 9781416571445

Book preview

Reviews for Scouts in Bondage

[big_bang_gorilla · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

One need not carve out a great deal of time for this slight browse, which presents a choice of book covers (and a few excerpts) from a bookshop which contains a subcollection of books with amusing titles, often double-entendres, or, less often, odd resonances in the juxtaposition of author and title. Some are amusing, some are headscratchers, and many, I suspect, are decipherable only to those with a working knowledge of British slang; I caught a few. It's a pleasant enough browse; I'd allow twenty minutes.

[melydia_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book think it's a whole lot funnier than it is. It's also possible it's getting laughs based on outdated slang I'm not familiar with. I think page 44 was the only one I got a good chuckle out of. That said, it also took me maybe five minutes to read, so it's got that going for it.

[abigailadams26 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Michael Bell, an antiquarian book dealer from Lewes, England, presents fifty vintage books whose titles and content will either puzzle or amuse the contemporary reader. Here are double-entendres aplenty, from the titular Scouts in Bondage by Geoffrey Prout, to older children's novels such as Bertram Smith's Totty: The Truth about Ten Mysterious Terms and Bessie Marchant's How Nell Scored. Here too are the unintentionally hilarious non-fiction titles, like Stephen J. Williams' Welsh in a Week or Clare Goslett's Simple Hints for Mothers on the Home Sex-Training of Boys. Good for a laugh, Scouts in Bondage and Other Literary Improprieties is a slim little book, and can be "read" in less than half-an-hour. Almost entirely given over to images, the reader will enjoy paging through, alternating between puzzled head-scratching and helpless giggling. Those who collect and read vintage children's books will probably find this little collection particularly amusing.

[devenish_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A similar sort of book to "Fish Who Answer The Telephone", but with less text and better illustrated. It has been compiled by a second-hand bookseller in Lewes,East Sussex.Among the titles are 'Book of Blank Maps' ; 'Building the Body Beautiful - The Bagot Stack Stretch and Swing System' ; 'Homespun' by the wonderfully named Wilhemina Stitch, ; 'Rock Climbs Round London',and 'Pamela Pounce - A Tale of Tempestuous Petticoats.