Sylvanus Stall (18 October 1847 – 6 November 1915) "Stall, Sylvanus" (Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography, 1900) was a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

, most famous for his 1897 sex education and anti- masturbation book ''What A Young Boy Ought To Know'' and its many sequels. Stall was born in Elizaville, New York (now part of Gallatin). In 1866 he entered Hartwick Seminary, then Pennsylvania State University and the Union Theological Seminary in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. He was ordained a minister in 1874. Stall held a Doctor of Divinity degree. He was initially a pastor in Cobleskill, New York (1874–77), Martins Creek, Pennsylvania (1877–80) and Lancaster, Pennsylvania (1880–87) (including running a Sunday School attended by

H. L. Mencken Henry Louis Mencken (September 12, 1880 – January 29, 1956) was an American journalist, essayist, satirist, cultural critic, and scholar of American English. He commented widely on the social scene, literature, music, prominent politicians, ...

), but quit in 1887 to edit a church newspaper, ''The Lutheran Observer,'' and start writing books.

. "First steps in divinity." '' Happy Days, 1880–1892'', pp. 185-188. Knopf, 1936. He also produced ''Stall's Lutheran Year-Book'' from 1884 on. He was also statistical secretary of the Lutheran General Synod from 1885. After several small-selling books, he released the enormously popular ''What A Young Boy Ought To Know'', a book on

sexual hygiene Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is a field of research, healthcare, and social activism that explores the health of an individual's reproductive system and sexual wellbeing during all stages of their life. The term can also be further de ...

, warning young boys of the purported dangers of masturbation. The book was a transcript of a series of sermons Stall recorded on Edison wax

phonograph cylinder Phonograph cylinders are the earliest commercial medium for recording and reproducing sound. Commonly known simply as "records" in their era of greatest popularity (c. 1896–1916), these hollow cylindrical objects have an audio recording engra ...

s, so is divided into "cylinders" rather than chapters. A cylinder collection was also offered for sale;

Loompanics Loompanics Unlimited was an American book seller and publisher specializing in nonfiction on generally unconventional or controversial topics. The topics in their title list included drugs, weapons, survivalism, anarchism, sex, conspiracy theories ...

described this as possibly being the first

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

. He died in Atlantic City on 6 November 1915, aged 68.

Bibliography

* Pastor's Record (1876) * Hand-Book to Lutheran Hymns (1879) * How to pay church debts, and how to keep churches out of debt (I. K. Funk, 1881) * Methods of church work: religious, social and financial (Funk & Wagnalls, 1888) * Five minute object sermons to children: ... through eye-gate and ear-gate into the city of child-soul (Funk & Wagnalls, 1894) * Bible selections for daily devotion; 365 readings (Funk & Wagnalls, 1896) * What a Young Boy Ought to Know (Vir, 1897) * What a Young Husband Ought to Know (Vir, 1899) * What a Man of Forty-five Ought to Know (Vir, 1901) * What a Young Man Ought to Know (Vir, 1904) * The Social Peril (Vir, 1905) * Successful selling of the Self & Sex series (Vir, 1907) * Talks to the King's children: being the second series of "Object Sermons to Children" (Vir, 1907) * With the children on Sundays, through eye-gate and ear-gate into the city of child-soul (Uplift, 1911) ''With Dr. Mary Wood-Allen:'' * What a young girl ought to know (1897)What a young girl ought to know: Wood-Allen, Mary, 1841-1908
(Internet Archive)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stall, Sylvanus 19th-century American Lutheran clergy Lutheran writers Writers from New York (state) People from Columbia County, New York 1847 births 1915 deaths American sex educators Pennsylvania State University alumni Union Theological Seminary (New York City) alumni People from Cobleskill, New York