[UTOPIAN THOUGHT] BORSODI, Ralph

Property and Trusterty, A Study of the Possessional Problem [Together With] Seventeen Problems of Man and Society

V.p. 1964, 1968. First Edition. Two volumes as described below:

1. Property and Trusterty, A Study of the Possessional Problem. Book 10 in a series on Seventeen Basic Problems of Individuals and of Society from an original manuscript of 250 pages by Ralph Borsodi...Condensed by Mildred J. Loomis. Brookville, OH: School of Living, 1964. First Edition. Quarto (28.5cm.); original tan staplebound card wrappers, typescript label mounted to upper cover; [6],73pp.; text printed from typescript. Dampspotting and wear to wrapper extremities, spine a bit rubbed, else Very Good, internally fine.

2. Seventeen Problems of Man and Society. Anand, India: Charotar Book Stall, 1968. First Edition. Octavo (21.5cm.); publisher's cloth in decorative dust jacket; viii,595pp. Jacket extremities chipped and rubbed, top third of upper flap fold split, half-inch loss at spine foot, minor toning to endpapers, corners bumped, else Good to Very Good overall.

The back-to-the-land agrarian theorist's earliest introduction to the concept of "trusterty," a substitute for land ownership based on the early Christian rejection of property and Gandhian trusteeship. The earlier title "condensed" by Mildred J. Loomis, co-founder of the Borsodian Lane's End Homestead from which she directed its branch of the School of Living, an extension program originally founded by Borsodi "to set up local schools...committeed to systematic study of and action on the actual problems of living in their communities" (see Loomis's "The Decentralist Answer"). The text of this work was entirely revised as Chapter XI, "Trusterty and Property--The Possessional Problem" in "Seventeen Problems of Man and Society," which goes on to define the three categories of possession "which cannot be morally treated as property" under trusterty--human beings, natural resources, and legal grants. The earlier title apparently unrecorded, with no copies in the trade or in OCLC as of October, 2019.

Price: $350.00

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