ABSTRACT
Masturbation was vitally important to Todd. Reading was the foundation of a young man’s self-making. It comprised his relationship with his guide. The inevitable accompaniment of reading was the risk of masturbation. According to these terms it was his most dangerous and persistent adversary. Todd made these connections explicitly. Masturbatory books were “the most awful scourge with which a righteous God ever visited our world.” In a sense masturbation was the chief rival to Todd’s system of male behavior.
