Bronson Alcott's Fruitlands: Compiled by Clara Endicott Sears with Transcendental Wild Oats

By Louisa May Alcott, Anna Alcott, Clara Endicott Sears, et al.

Book Overview

This chronicle of Fruitlands, an agrarian community established in Harvard, Massachusetts, details the philosophy, creation and failure of the settlement.

Founded by Bronson Alcott in 1843, Fruitlands was intended to be a utopian commune sustained by its own agriculture. The philosophical concepts of Transcendentalism, and its assertions regarding human morality and the potential of self-reliance, formed a cerebral bedrock. Yet the practical considerations of living were less accounted for: many residents preferred to philosophize than work the fields and animal labor was forbidden; the result being a shortage of food available to feed residents over winter. The strict living standards also caused discontent, and the project failed when unhappy occupants departed the site in January 1844.

In the modern day, the Fruitlands project is considered a historical curiosity in Massachusetts. A museum was established on the original location, which details both Fruitlands and other attempts at achieving utopia in North America. Bronson Alcott was deeply disappointed that his commune failed, but continued working as a local teacher for many years afterward. His daughter Louisa May - who resided in Fruitlands as a girl - wrote a journal of the events, and later a treatment entitled Transcendental Wild Oats, which form part of this collection compiled by Clara Sears.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1789875404
• ISBN13: 9781789875409
• Release Date: January 1876
• Publisher: Pantianos Classics
• Length: 102 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Common sense

When Louisa May Alcott was a little girl, her father moved the family to live in an experimental commune in the orchard town of Harvard, Massachusetts. The idea was that inhabitants would live on unleavened bread and apples, abstain from sex, and expound on the universe. The experiment lasted only from July to December, when it predictably fell apart. In adulthood, Louisa trained a comic eye on the whole experience, and wrote this brief, funny parody of it, with only names changed to protect the innocent. Also included here are girlhood diaries kept by Louisa during this experience, which offer insight into what life was like at such a place in those days. These diaries are made doubly amusing by a few marginal notes Louisa added to them later in life. For anyone interested in Alcott family history, or in the crazy days of the transcendentalists (the 19th century's version of the sixties), this short work is a must read.

Thes sixties wasn't the first time!

The Fruitlands commune was a fascinating experiment that took place in beautiful Harvard, Mass. when Louisa was a child. "Transcendental Wild Oats" is her brief and affectionate send-up of the ridiculous ideals and characters she remembers from Fruitlands, among them her father. "Fruitlands Diary," her actual diary from her childhood, offers great insight into daily life from this time period, with affectionate comments here and there added when she was an older woman.