The Unitarian Universalist Collection

These books, some published in association with the Unitarian Universalist Historical Society, trace the development of Unitarianism and Universalism in America and around the world.

The Unitarians: A Short History Leonard Smith
Catalog No. BE-08 ISBN 978-0-9816402-0-4 Pages: 208 Price: $25.00	The Unitarians: A Short History concisely explores the origins and progress of a worldwide liberal religious tradition committed to principles of freedom, reason, and tolerance. This book traces the history of the various Unitarian (and Unitarian Universalist) denominations in Europe, Great Britain, and the United States, and touches on the newer groups that have arisen, or are in the process of emerging, elsewhere in the world. Buy the Kindle edition from Amazon.com Price: $7.50
Freedom Moves West A History of the Western Unitarian Conference, 1852-1952 Charles H. Lyttle
Catalog No. BE-06 ISBN 978-0-9725017-6-7 Pages: 304 Price: $25.00	One of the essential works of American Unitarian history, Freedom Moves West tells the story of the growth and development of a distinctive Western variety of American Unitarianism. As religiously liberal pioneers moved from the long-established East to the newly settled territories of the West, they embraced ever more challenging theological positions, constantly expanding the definition of what it means to be Unitarian. Buy the Kindle edition from Amazon.com Price: $6.00

The Reformation Collection

Reformation historian Roland H. Bainton called them "the Free Spirits." Neither Lutheran nor Reformed nor Anabaptist, the liberal wing of the Radical Reformation was characterized by belief in the power of reason and a mystical sense of union with the Divine. Our Reformation Collection highlights these independent thinkers.

Hunted Heretic The Life and Death of Michael Servetus 1511-1553 Roland H. Bainton
Catalog No. BE-05 ISBN 978-0-9725017-3-6 Pages: 235 Price: $25.00	This classic work, first published in 1953, has been reissued in a joint publication by Blackstone Editions and the Unitarian Universalist Historical Society. Though the basic scholarship remains sound, and the book fills a need for a concise, readable, yet scholarly English-language biography of Servetus, we found the apparatus in need of updating. Therefore we decided to make this volume, not a simple reprint, but an enriched edition of Hunted Heretic. Like a DVD reissue of a beloved classic movie, it comes packaged with many "special features": updated notes and bibliography, a new introduction, a rare, early, and previously hard to find primary document, and a biography of Roland Bainton. Buy the Kindle edition from Amazon.com Price: $7.50
Declaratio Michael Servetus's Revelation of Jesus Christ, the Son of God Matteo Gribaldi Translated and edited by Peter Zerner and Peter Hughes
Catalog No. BE-09 ISBN 978-0-9816402-1-1 Pages: lxviii + 283 Price: $30.00	In 1553 Michael Servetus, author of several notorious heretical works, escaped from the Inquisition in France only to fall into the hands of the Protestant authorities in Geneva. He was tried, found guilty of heresy, and burned at the stake. Four hundred years later, in 1953, a mysterious manuscript entitled "Declarationis Jesu Christi Filii Dei Authore Michaele Serveto" (A Revelation of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, by Michael Servetus) was discovered in an archive in Stuttgart, Germany. Could this be a lost work by Servetus? In this book, Peter Hughes and Peter Zerner explain how, in the course of translating Declaratio, they discovered that it is the work of Matteo Gribaldi, an Italian law professor, antitrinitarian, and admirer of Servetus. The book contains complete Latin and English texts of Declaratio and five shorter works by Gribaldi, including Apologia, his powerful and moving protest against the execution of Servetus.
Racovia An Early Liberal Religious Community Phillip Hewett
Catalog No. BE-04 ISBN 978-0-9725017-5-0 Pages: 88 Price: $15.00	In the depths of the Polish countryside lies the little town of Raków (Racovia). Raków today shows few signs of its illustrious history as the chief center for progressive religious thinking in Europe. Founded in 1569, by the early 17th century it had become "the Unitarian capital of Europe." Its academy attracted scholars and students from all over Europe. Hundreds of books poured from its presses, including the famous Racovian Catechism, published four centuries ago and still in print. Though the Racovian experiment eventually fell victim to the forces of religious repression, the ripples arising from this little community have spread in ever-widening circles during the ensuing centuries, and their effects can still be seen today. Buy the Kindle edition from Amazon.com Price: $4.50

The Hopedale Collection

The Hopedale Collection consists of books by and about Adin Ballou (1803-1890) and the utopian community he founded at Hopedale, Massachusetts.

History of the Hopedale Community Adin Ballou
Catalog No. BE-10 ISBN 978-0-9816402-3-5 Pages: xxviii + 339 Price: $25.00	The Hopedale Community was one of the most important and successful of the many utopian communities started in the mid-nineteenth century United States. In History of the Hopedale Community, community leader Adin Ballou provides a detailed record of the successes, failures, hopes, and disappointments of a small group of people attempting to live together harmoniously, in accordance with "their ideal of what human life and human society upon the earth ought to be." This new edition features a newly restored map of Hopedale, many explanatory notes on the text, and a table of the members, drawn from the membership records of the community.
Practical Christianity An Epitome of Practical Christian Socialism Adin Ballou Edited and arranged by Lynn Gordon Hughes
Catalog No. BE-01 ISBN 978-0-9725017-0-5 Pages: 267 Price: $25.00	Practical Christian Socialism (1854) was Adin Ballou's most comprehensive exposition of his fundamental principles and their application to personal and community life, ranging from theology and political theory to marriage, child-rearing, and a surprisingly frank discussion of sexuality. In Practical Christianity, Ballou's 655-page treatise has been edited to eliminate the cumbersome dialogue form in which it was originally written. All of the language is Ballou's own, and nothing is omitted except a final section in which he compared Practical Christian Socialism to competing varieties of utopian socialism. Buy the Kindle edition from Amazon.com Price: $7.50
Christian Non-Resistance Adin Ballou
Catalog No. BE-02 ISBN 978-0-9725017-1-2 Pages: 190 Price: $20.00	In Christian Non-Resistance (1846) Adin Ballou set out his vision of a world in which nations would glory not in military might but in "superior justice, forbearance, meekness, forgiveness, charity," and beneficent order could be maintained without violence. Once dismissed as a relic of the naďve and sentimental optimism of pre-Civil War America, it is now recognized as an important contribution to the theory of nonviolent resistance. Ballou's combination of the utmost moral resistance to evil with the uninjurious physical restraint of evildoers provides a conceptually simple, flexible approach to the problem of resisting evil without becoming evil oneself. Buy the Kindle edition from Amazon.com Price: $6.00
To Live a Truer Life Written by Lynn Gordon Hughes Illustrated by Lindro For ages 4-8
Catalog No. BE-03 ISBN 978-0-9725017-2-9 Pages: 32 Hard cover w/ dust jacket Price: $10.00	Hopedale, Massachusetts in 1855 is a town unlike any other. Everyone who lives there has promised never to kill, hate, or hurt another human being - not even their worst enemy. There are no rich people and no poor people. Everyone has a job to do, and everyone shares. This picture book presents the Hopedale Community through the eyes of one if its youngest members, eight-year-old Susie Thwing. Her job is to deliver the mail to everyone in Hopedale and sell the special pink Hopedale Penny Post stamps. In this book, young readers can join Susie as she makes her rounds and shows what makes her town so special.
Hopedale Reminiscences Childhood Memories of the Hopedale Community and the Hopedale Home School, 1841-1863
Catalog No. BE-07 ISBN 978-0-9725017-4-3 Pages: 83 Price: $10.00	This little book is devoted to remembering the "good old days" of living in the utopian community of Hopedale, Massachusetts during the 1840s and 1850s. The pleasures and hardships of living in a village devoted to re-creating society in a non-violent, cooperative and equitable way are examined, often humorously, through the eyes of its children. Unlike their parents, these youngsters did not volunteer to live apart from the rest of the world, nor were they necessarily passionate advocates of the ideals of their elders. In spite of this, living in an atmosphere both earnest and loving, they had the time of their lives.