Sylvanus Stall Records of Vir Publishing Company

Sylvanus Stall (18 October 1847 – 6 November 1915) was a United States Lutheran pastor, most famous for his 1897 sex education and anti-masturbation book What A Young Boy Ought To Know and its many sequels. This book, and others, were part of a series called “Self and Sex,” and were published by Stall’s publishing company, Vir Publishing Company, between 1897 and 1904.

The Sylvanus Stall Records of Vir Publishing Company span the years 1899 to 1911, and documents the activities of the publisher of the “Self and Sex” series of books, published between 1897 and 1904. This small collection consists mostly of correspondence, 1906 to 1910, between Stall for the Vir Publishing Company, authors, firms contracted to sell the books, and purchasers of the books. Most letters are in English, but a few are in German. In addition to correspondence, there are contracts between Vir and G. H. Knox of Des Moines, Iowa, as exclusive canvassing sellers for the “Self and Sex” series in the United States and Canada for the years 1903 to 1907. Also included in this collection are “Application[s] for Admission of Publication” for the same series, dating to 1901 and 1904.

Researchers should be aware that some of the paper is in poor condition: fragile and extremely dirty.

Previously catalogued as 10c 81.

Source: “Sylvanus Stall.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 12 July 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvanus_Stall