Arthur Penty
Encyclopedia
Arthur Joseph Penty was a British architect, and writer on Guild socialism
and distributism
. He was first a Fabian socialist, and follower of Victorian thinkers William Morris
and John Ruskin
. He is generally credited with the formulation of a Christian socialist form of the medieval guild
, as an alternative basis for economic life.
(1852–1902), architect, and his wife, Emma Seller. After attending St Peter's School
in York he was apprenticed in 1888 to his father. He attracted national and even international attention, including favourable notice in Herman Muthesius's Das englische Haus (1904).
Penty left his father's office in 1901, and moved to London in 1902
to pursue his interest in the arts and crafts movement. His younger brother
Frederick T. Penty (1879–1943) took over the business after their father died.
Around 1900 Penty met A. R. Orage; together with Holbrook Jackson
they founded the Leeds Arts Club
. All three moved to London in 1905 and 1906; Penty in fact led the way, and Orage lodged with him in his first attempts to live by writing.
, was a convert to guild socialism
. After World War I
guild socialism dropped back as a factor in the thinking of the British Labour movement, in general; the idea of post-industrialism, on which Penty wrote, attributing the term to A. K. Coomaraswamy, receded in importance in the face of the economic conditions. Several of Penty's books were translated into German in the early 1920s. Penty was an acknowledged influence on the writings of Spain's Ramiro de Maeztu
(1875–1936), who was murdered by Communists in the early days of the Spanish Civil War.
and the Chestertons Cecil
and Gilbert
. It reflected in part a first split from the Fabian socialists of the whole New Age group, in the form of the Fabian Arts Group of 1907.
Orage was a believer in Guild socialism for a period. After C. H. Douglas
met Orage in 1918, and Orage invented the term Social Credit
for the Douglas theories, there was in effect a further split into 'left' (Social Crediters) and 'right' (distributist) thinkers. This is, though, fairly misleading as a classification; it was also to some extent a split between theosophist and Catholic
camps. Penty associated with the Catholic Ditchling Community
.
Penty went with the distributists. Distributism in the 1920s took its own direction, as Belloc wrote his version of it in the period 1920 to 1925 and connected it with his political theories. The British Labour Party declared against Social Credit
in 1922.
Guild socialism
Guild socialism is a political movement advocating workers' control of industry through the medium of trade-related guilds. It originated in the United Kingdom and was at its most influential in the first quarter of the 20th century. It was strongly associated with G. D. H...
and distributism
Distributism
Distributism is a third-way economic philosophy formulated by such Catholic thinkers as G. K...
. He was first a Fabian socialist, and follower of Victorian thinkers William Morris
William Morris
William Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...
and John Ruskin
John Ruskin
John Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political...
. He is generally credited with the formulation of a Christian socialist form of the medieval guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
, as an alternative basis for economic life.
Early life
Arthur Penty was born at 16 Elmwood Street, St Laurence, York, the second son of Walter Green PentyWalter Green Penty
Walter Green Penty was an architect working in York, England, and the father of Arthur Penty and Frederick Thomas Penty , both architects....
(1852–1902), architect, and his wife, Emma Seller. After attending St Peter's School
St Peter's School, York
St Peter's School is a co-educational independent boarding and day school located in the English City of York, with extensive grounds on the banks of the River Ouse...
in York he was apprenticed in 1888 to his father. He attracted national and even international attention, including favourable notice in Herman Muthesius's Das englische Haus (1904).
Penty left his father's office in 1901, and moved to London in 1902
to pursue his interest in the arts and crafts movement. His younger brother
Frederick T. Penty (1879–1943) took over the business after their father died.
Around 1900 Penty met A. R. Orage; together with Holbrook Jackson
Holbrook Jackson
George Holbrook Jackson was a British journalist, writer and publisher. He was recognised as one of the leading bibliophiles of his time.-Biography:...
they founded the Leeds Arts Club
Leeds Arts Club
The Leeds Arts Club was founded in 1903 by the Leeds school teacher Alfred Orage and Yorkshire textile manufacture Holbrook Jackson, and was probably one of the most advanced centres for modernist thinking in Britain in the pre-First World War period.-History:...
. All three moved to London in 1905 and 1906; Penty in fact led the way, and Orage lodged with him in his first attempts to live by writing.
Influence
For a time, from 1906, Penty's ideas were widely influential. Orage, as editor of The New AgeThe New Age
The New Age was a British literary magazine, noted for its wide influence under the editorship of A. R. Orage from 1907 to 1922. It began life in 1894 as a publication of the Christian Socialist movement; but in 1907 as a radical weekly edited by Joseph Clayton, it was struggling...
, was a convert to guild socialism
Guild socialism
Guild socialism is a political movement advocating workers' control of industry through the medium of trade-related guilds. It originated in the United Kingdom and was at its most influential in the first quarter of the 20th century. It was strongly associated with G. D. H...
. After World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
guild socialism dropped back as a factor in the thinking of the British Labour movement, in general; the idea of post-industrialism, on which Penty wrote, attributing the term to A. K. Coomaraswamy, receded in importance in the face of the economic conditions. Several of Penty's books were translated into German in the early 1920s. Penty was an acknowledged influence on the writings of Spain's Ramiro de Maeztu
Ramiro de Maeztu
Ramiro de Maeztu y Whitney was a Spanish political theorist, journalist, literary critic, occasional diplomat and member of the Generation of '98....
(1875–1936), who was murdered by Communists in the early days of the Spanish Civil War.
Penty the distributist
The somewhat complex British development of distributism emerged as a conjuncture of ideas of Penty, Hilaire BellocHilaire Belloc
Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc was an Anglo-French writer and historian who became a naturalised British subject in 1902. He was one of the most prolific writers in England during the early twentieth century. He was known as a writer, orator, poet, satirist, man of letters and political activist...
and the Chestertons Cecil
Cecil Chesterton
Cecil Edward Chesterton was an English journalist and political commentator, known particularly for his role as editor of The New Witness from 1912 to 1916, and in relation to its coverage of the Marconi scandal....
and Gilbert
G. K. Chesterton
Gilbert Keith Chesterton, KC*SG was an English writer. His prolific and diverse output included philosophy, ontology, poetry, plays, journalism, public lectures and debates, literary and art criticism, biography, Christian apologetics, and fiction, including fantasy and detective fiction....
. It reflected in part a first split from the Fabian socialists of the whole New Age group, in the form of the Fabian Arts Group of 1907.
Orage was a believer in Guild socialism for a period. After C. H. Douglas
C. H. Douglas
Major C. H. Douglas MIMechE, MIEE, , was a British engineer and pioneer of the Social Credit economic reform movement.-Education and engineering career:...
met Orage in 1918, and Orage invented the term Social Credit
Social Credit
Social Credit is an economic philosophy developed by C. H. Douglas , a British engineer, who wrote a book by that name in 1924. Social Credit is described by Douglas as "the policy of a philosophy"; he called his philosophy "practical Christianity"...
for the Douglas theories, there was in effect a further split into 'left' (Social Crediters) and 'right' (distributist) thinkers. This is, though, fairly misleading as a classification; it was also to some extent a split between theosophist and Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
camps. Penty associated with the Catholic Ditchling Community
The Guild of St Joseph and St Dominic
The Guild of St Joseph and St Dominic was an art colony and experiment in communal life in early 20th century England. The story of the Guild began when Eric Gill the sculptor and letter cutter came to Ditchling, Sussex in 1907 with his apprentice Joseph Cribb and was soon followed by fellow...
.
Penty went with the distributists. Distributism in the 1920s took its own direction, as Belloc wrote his version of it in the period 1920 to 1925 and connected it with his political theories. The British Labour Party declared against Social Credit
Social Credit
Social Credit is an economic philosophy developed by C. H. Douglas , a British engineer, who wrote a book by that name in 1924. Social Credit is described by Douglas as "the policy of a philosophy"; he called his philosophy "practical Christianity"...
in 1922.
Works
- The Restoration of the Gild System (1906)
- Essays on Post-Industrialism (1914) edited with Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy
- Old Worlds for New (1917)
- Guilds and the Social Crisis (1919)
- The Guild Alternative
- A Guildsman's Interpretation of History (1919)
- Post Industrialism (1922)
- Gilden, Gewerbe und Landwirtschaft (1922) translated by Otto Eccius
- Towards a Christian Sociology (1923),
- Agriculture and the unemployed (1925) with William Wright
- The Elements of Domestic Design (1930)
- Means and Ends (1932).
- Communism and the Alternative (1933)
- Distributism: A Manifesto (1937)
- The Gauntlet: A Challenge to the Myth of Progress (2002) collection, introduction by Peter Chojnowski
- Distributist Perspectives: Volume 1 - Essays on the Economics of Justice and Charity (2004) with others