‎Lord Northbourne‎
‎Look To The Land‎

‎London, Dent, 1942. 190 x 130 mm, 186 pp. Hardcover with blue cloth, no jacket. Reprint of the 1940 edition. This is a rare copy of the war edition which, due to war restrictions, contains less paper than usual and shows the "Authorized Economy Standard" seal of approval on the first page. "In May 1940, Lord Northbourne’s book ‘Look to the Land’ appeared. He coined the term ‘organic farming’. His book stripped out the prolixity, abstruseness, esotericism and mysticism of Rudolf Steiner, and, with compelling clarity, Lord Northbourne presented a manifesto of organic agriculture. From this point on, biodynamics and organics have developed in parallel, with the general recognition of biodynamics as a particular manifestation of organic agriculture." (John Paull, "The Global Growth and Evolution of Organic Agriculture", p. 5) "Lord Northbourne (1896-1982) was a man of exceptional vision, who already in the 1940s diagnosed in detail the sickness of modern society as stemming from the severance of its organic links with the wholeness of life. A leading figure in the early organic farming movement, his writings profoundly affected such other pioneers as Sir Albert Howard, Rolf Gardiner, Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, and H. J. Massingham. His path led him on to a profound study of comparative religion, traditional metaphysics, and the science of symbols, which he employed in incisive observations on the character of modern society. His later writings exercised considerable influence on his younger contemporaries E. F. Schumacher and Thomas Merton, and in many ways anticipate the essays of Wendell Berry." (Later summary of the book by Angelico Press) Walter Ernest Christopher James, 4th Baron Northbourne (1896-1982) was a precursor of what is now known as organic agriculture. He translated to English several works by Perennialists or Traditionalists René Guénon, Fritschof Schuon and Titus Burckhardt, and contributed frequently to the quarterly journal Studies in Comparative Religions. According to Wikipedia, "Lord Northbourne's garden at Elizabethan Northbourne Court near Deal in Kent, set within the standing former outbuildings (the manor house burned in the 18th century) and upon ancient terracing, nurtured for a century, is reputed one of the finest in England; it is not generally open to the public."‎

Reference : 0254

‎A few scruffing on the joints, firm binding. Some foxing and staining on the first pages. Text is all legible.‎