Association agricole et industrielle de la Grande Famille. Nécessité et avantages d'une grande association aux environs de Paris

4-pp. proposal for an egalitarian agricultural and industrial society outside of Paris, illustrated with one large engraving to front page. Tabloid (19 x 12 1/4 inches). Printed self-wrappers. Creasing along old ofld lines, some very minor scattered foxing, light toning especially to first page, some chipping and edgewear, overall very good. Paris: Imprimerie Dondey-Dupré, 1849. Pierre Alfred Raginel (1813-1860) was a supplier of medical equipment and preparator in osteology who was also extremely active in revolutionary political groups. Raginel was imprisoned or convicted multiple times between 1834 and 1841 for his activity with clandestine republican societies.

A follower of the utopian and mutualist ideals of Fourier and Proudhon, Raginel begans his work on utopian societies in 1845, and wrote several different pamphlets and proposals on the topic. He also founded the Société agricole et industrielle de la Grande Famille, and promoted the idea of a self-sufficient utopian community on the outskirts of Paris. The large engraving to the front of this oversized pamphlet shows the proposed layout of this commune, with walls, flower and vegetable gardens, a bakery, a laundry, a slaughterhouse, clothing and fabric workshops, and other establishments.

The two interior pages lay out 64 articles of association, and touch on things such as the nature of the society, shared capital, conditions of admission, rights and duties of society members, administration, general meetings, etc. The back page details the basic principles which will serve as the basis for the society's regulations, including a winter workday schedule. This schedule includes waking up at 6:00 AM, being in the workshop by 7:00 AM, an hour-long meal at 9:00 AM where newspapers will be read, a return to workshops by 10:00 AM until a second meal at 2:00 PM, return to the workshops from 3:00 to 7:00, supper at 7:00 followed by recreation of choice, and off to bed at 11:00 PM. Domestic care and services are to be shared in rotation by all society members, without exception.

Other aspects of society life which are highlighted are cleanliness, respect, manners, fraternity, good work ethic, and the freedom to leave the society whenever one chooses. "La liberté que chaque Sociétaire aura de quitter l'établissement dès qu'il ne s'y plairait plus, fait que chaque citoyen qui fera partie de la Société n'y sera attaché que par préférence et par attrait."

An early and fascinating example of utopian socialism in France; as of June 2026, OCLC locates only two holdings of this proposal in North American libraries.