A great deal of credit is due to Miss Sears for her success in gathering material to make this story of Fruitlands so complete, and I take this opportunity, as the oldest surviving member of the Alcott family, of expressing to her our gratitude for the very interesting and complete account of the Fruitlands experiment.

John S. P. Alcott.

CONTENTS

Introduction[xiii]
I.A New Eden[1]
II.The Founding of Fruitlands[21]
II.Brook Farm and Fruitlands[35]
IV.The Man with the Beard[53]
V.Summer Sunshine[68]
VI.Father Hecker’s Description of Fruitlands[75]
VII.Anna Alcott’s Diary at Fruitlands[86]
VIII.Louisa May Alcott’s Diary at Fruitlands[106]
IX.Autumn Disappointment[112]
X.In After Years[130]
XI.Transcendental Wild Oats. By Louisa May Alcott[145]
Appendix: Catalogue of the Original Fruitlands Library[175]

ILLUSTRATIONS

The Old House at Fruitlands, Harvard, Massachusetts[Frontispiece]
In front are the mulberry trees planted by the philosophers for the propagation of silkworms.
A. Bronson Alcott at the Age of 53[4]
From the portrait by Mrs. Hildreth.
Abigail May, Mrs. A. Bronson Alcott[4]
From a daguerreotype.
The Small Entry where the Valuable Books were kept[10]
The Study[28]
A bust of Socrates stands on the fine old Dutch highboy that Joseph Palmer brought from No Town.
Charles Lane[42]
The Small Dining-Room[48]
Around this table the philosophers discussed their deepest problems.
Nancy and Joseph Palmer[56]
The Refectory, also used as a Kitchen[68]
Isaac T. Hecker[76]
Louisa, Anna, and Abba May Alcott[88]
The Community Settle[100]
Where Abba May’s Stocking was hung the Night before her Birthday[106]
Anna’s bedroom is on the right, next to Mrs. Alcott’s. The portraits of the “Little Women” hang on the wall.
The Outer Kitchen[116]
Charles Lane’s Room[124]
The old cowhide trunk, in which some of the most valuable of the books were shipped from London; also the old chest in which the linen was kept. The spinning-wheel belonged to a former owner.
The Bedroom[128]
Where Mr. Alcott nearly succumbed to his despair at the failure of his “New Eden.”
Orchard House at Concord, Massachusetts[172]
The Alcott home of later years.

INTRODUCTION

Longfellow wrote:—

“All houses wherein men have lived and died