The Circular. Devoted to the Soverignity of Jesus Christ. Volume I; Complete.

The entire first year of this weekly publication. Fifty-two issues dating from November 6, 1851 to October 31, 1862. Stabbed and sown but no binding (as seems to be common). In very nice condition, no foxing, browning, staining. It appears to by untrimmed as well.This was the organ of John Humphrey Noyes's perfectionist utopian and communistic communities. ed by a Vermont native named John Humphrey Noyes, the community?s founders came to New York State in 1848 to put into practice their Perfectionist beliefs. Believing that the Kingdom of God on Earth had arrived with the second coming of Jesus during the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D., they embraced the communalism of the early Christian Church in their effort to create a more equal, just and rational society in their new Eden. when Noyes determined that his son's doubts and apostasy might be corrected by his close investigation of spiritualism as an antidote to materialism and step toward belief in the soul's immortality. The last issue of the journal ran the prospectus of this journal's successor, the American Socialist, "A New Weekly Paper Devoted to Socialism."n February of 1848, the man about to found one of America?s most successful utopias composed a plan to bring Christ and social reform to upstate New York entitled Bible Argument: Defining the Relations of the Sexes in the Kingdom of Heaven. The communitarian venture envisioned by John Humphrey Noyes aimed to duplicate life in Christ?s kingdom ? a placeof communal ownership and group marriage ? in order to bring that kingdom to earth. At the same time, the community?s unconventional sexual practices would transform society and correct its ills. Community was founded in 1848 by John Humphrey Noyes and grew to some three hundred members. It disbanded in 1880 and became a joint stock company, Oneida Ltd., which today is a multinational cutlery manufacturer. Between 1869 and 1880 there was a selective breeding programme (?stirpiculture?) with parents chosen for intellectual, physical and spiritual characteristics. Fifty eight children were born. The program was inspired by Noyes' theology of Perfectionism, Plato's Republic, agricultural selective breeding and concerns about human heredity. The group was also noted for its advocacy of what would come to be called "karezza"--prolonged sexual intercourse without ejaculation for men. In the early days and occasionally thereafter there were articles on the critical position the communities should take with regard to spiritualism, but that changed in the early 1870s. It was later justified by Noyes with the writings of Darwin and Galton. The children were followed up and deemed to be superior in physique, intellect, health and other characteristics. Surprisingly, Noyes is not considered a primary influencer of the early 20th century eugenics movement.Nineteenth-century visitors to the Oneida Community in central New York State found a family of 300 individuals who lived in a rambling brick Mansion House and shared everything ? their worldly possessions, their religious fervor, their sexual partners. Tourists came by the thousands on the railroad and paid 60 cents for one of the community?s mostly vegetarian dinners, or 25 cents for an evening?s ?grand entertainment.? Ir was arguably the most successful commune in American history.…