Thomas Merton papers

Abstract

The Thomas Merton papers (dated 1940-1974, undated; 5.5 cubic feet; 14 boxes) include correpsondence, literary manuscripts, and photographs, which document Merton's career as a monk and spiritual writer.

Descriptive Summary

Title
Thomas Merton papers
Date
1940-1974, undated (inclusive)
Extent
5.5 Cubic Feet
Subjects
Authors, American -- Kentucky.
Trappists
Authors.
Trappist (Ky.)
Monks.
Drafts.
Manuscripts -- Kentucky.
Kentucky Authors Collection
Arrangement
The collection is arranged by format.
Finding Aid Author
Ida Lucille Sell
Preferred Citation
75m28: [Identification of item], Thomas Merton papers, 1940-1974, undated, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
Repository
University of Kentucky

Collection Overview

Biography / History
Thomas Merton, the son of two artists, attended Columbia University in New York, obtaining B.A. and M.A. degrees. He converted to Catholicism in 1938 and joined the ranks of the Trappist monks in December, 1941. Merton served as Master of Scholastics and as Master of Novices at the order's monastery in Kentucky, Our Lady of Gethsemani, before being allowed to live as a hermit in 1965. He left the monastery in 1968 to attend a conference in Bangkok, Thailand, where he died December 10 of accidental electrocution. Merton had won acclaim for his books, poems and articles, beginning with the publication of the autobiographical Seven Storey Mountain in 1948. In the 1960s he was known for his concern about peace, civil rights and other social issues. He also promoted ecumenism between Catholics, other Christians and non-Christians.
Merton was a prolific writer, producing 139 books and pamphlets, 104 contributions to books, and 486 pieces for magazines and newspapers in a relatively brief career.
Merton often circulated his writings among his acquaintances for criticism before publication. Among this group from 1951 to 1968 were Carolyn and Victor Hammer of Lexington, Ky., and the then director of the University of Kentucky libraries, Lawrence Thompson.
Scope and Content
The Thomas Merton papers (dated 1940-1974, undated; 5.5 cubic feet; 14 boxes) include correpsondence, literary manuscripts, and photographs, which document Merton's career as a monk and spiritual writer. The correspondence includes letters from and to Erich Fromm, Boris Pasternak, Daisetz Suzuki, Robert Lax, Carolyn Reading Hammer, and Victor Hammer. Literary manuscripts form the bulk of the collection. There are holographs and typescripts, carbon copies and mimeographs. The collection includes, in draft form, "The Ascent to Truth", "My Argument with the Gestapo", "No Man is an Island" and "The Secular Journal of Thomas Merton". Poems written or translated by Thomas Merton are included in the collection. Many drafts of Merton manuscripts, articles and poems are included. Copies of articles written by Thomas Merton and were published in religious and national periodicals are also included. The photographs document Thomas Merton and his friends.

Restrictions on Access and Use

Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open to researchers by appointment.
Use Restrictions
The physical rights to the materials in this collection are held by the University of Kentucky Special Collections.
All literary rights to the Merton papers are vested in the Merton Legacy Trust. Requests to copy, to film, to quote from extensively or in part, to publish or to reprint any published or unpublished manuscripts in the collection must be directed in writing to the Administrator of Rights and Contracts, Merton Legacy Trust, 670 West End Avenue, New York, NY 10025. Letters to Thomas Merton may not be used without the permission of that correspondent.

Contents of the Collection

Articles with reference to Merton, 1950-1969

Scope and Contents

The Articles with reference to Merton series is a collection of writings about the monk. After the Second World War his teachings were very popular in the United States. National secular and religious publications discussed Merton's monastic theology as well as his anti nuclear war opinions. Articles included in the series were found in Time, Life, as well as the Catholic Worker.

"A Visit with Thomas Merton" by James W. Angell, 1960 November 15

  • Box 1, folder 1
To top

"Thomas Merton: Ascension Luminosa a la Montana Interior" by Julio Araluce, 1960 July 4

  • Box 1, folder 2
To top

"Nuclear Pacifism States Its Case" by John C. Bennett, 1963 July 4

  • Box 1, folder 3
To top

"Two Letters on 'The Modern Problem'" by Eric Bruno and Sister M. Therese, 1950 March

  • Box 1, folder 4
To top

"Don Walsh: A Teacher Remembered" by Sister Francis Camilla, 1963 Summer

  • Box 1, folder 5
To top

"Life with Thomas Merton" by Gerald Groves, 1963 April-May

  • Box 1, folder 6
To top

"Possessed by the Holy Spirit: The Poetry of Thomas Merton and Vassar Miller" by Albert Fowler, 1964 Spring

  • Box 1, folder 7
To top

"Four Pasternak Letters at U. of K. recall the century's most tragic Literary Debacle" by Jim Hampton, 1964 September 6

  • Box 1, folder 8
To top

"In Search of Thomas Merton" by Sarah Lansdell, 1969 December 7

  • Box 1, folder 9
To top

"Renewal Crisis Hits Trappists" by Colman McCarthy, 1967 December 11

  • Box 1, folder 10
To top

"The Games Critics Play" by Thomas P. McDonnell, 1967 March

  • Box 1, folder 11
To top

"To: Thomas Merton, Re: Your Prophecy" by Martin E. Marty, 1967 August 30

  • Box 1, folder 12
To top

"Monk, Man and Myth" by Jim Morrissey, 1966 January 23

  • Box 1, folder 13
To top

"In the Belly of a Paradox" by Ben Ray Redman, 1953 February 21

  • Box 1, folder 14
To top

"Benedictine v. Trappist" in Time Magazine, 1953 February 2

  • Box 1, folder 15
To top

Newspaper clippings, 1953-1974

  • Box 1, folder 16
To top

"Book review of Nuevas Semillas de Contemplacion" in Novedades, 1963 April-May

  • Box 1, folder 17
To top

"Once in Kentucky (To Thomas Merton)" by Mark Van Doran, 1960

  • Box 1, folder 18
To top

Abbey of Gethsemani and Merton Literature, 1953-1967, undated

Scope and Contents

Abbey of Gethsemani and Merton series includes materials about projects at the monastery and of Thomas Merton. The Abbey of Gethsemani has more than 2,000 acres of farmland, and considered to be the "mother house" of all Trappist and Trappistine monasteries in the United States of America. From 1948 until his death in 1968 the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani was the home of Thomas Merton. The monks bring money to the abbey by producing cheese, fruit cake and wine. The calendars and pamphlets exhibit pictures and description of the works on the abbey's farm. Also included in the series are book sleeves and anti nuclear proliferation pamphlets created by Thomas Merton while living at the Abbey.

Book sleeves of Merton Books, undated

  • Box 1, folder 19
To top

Gethsamani Farms pamphlets, circa 1953

  • Box 1, folder 20
To top

Monks of Gethsemani in Trappist, Kentucky calendars, 1957-1967

  • Box 1, folder 21
To top

Anti nuclear proliferation leaflets, undated

  • Box 1, folder 22
To top

Correspondence, 1947-1968

Scope and Contents

The Correspondence series includes the letters between Thomas Merton and friends, publishers and fellow writers/philosophers. Most of the correspondence details his time spent working on various writings. The letters between Boris Pasternak discuss a similar belief in God and man despite the building Cold War in the early 1950s. also included in the series are letters between D.T. Suzuki and Thomas Merton about similarities between monastic life and Buddhist Zen philosophy.

Erich Fromm, 1954-1961

  • Box 1, folder 23
To top

James Gribble, 1958 September-October

  • Box 1, folder 24
To top

Foreign Publishers, 1947-1951

  • Box 1, folder 25
To top

Foreign Publishers, 1952-1955

  • Box 1, folder 26
To top

Carolyn and Victor Hammer, 1955-1960

  • Box 2, folder 1
To top

Carolyn and Victor Hammer, 1961-1962

  • Box 2, folder 2
To top

Carolyn and Victor Hammer, 1963-1964

  • Box 2, folder 3
To top

Carolyn and Victor Hammer, 1965-1966

  • Box 2, folder 4
To top

Carolyn and Victor Hammer, 1967-1968

  • Box 2, folder 5
To top

John Harris, 1958 November 18

  • Box 12, folder 29
To top

Gertrude Hindemith, 1953

  • Box 2, folder 6
To top

Robert Lax, 1947-1952

  • Box 2, folder 7
To top

Robert Lax, 1959-1960

  • Box 12, folder 27
To top

New Directions publishers, 1948-1955

  • Box 2, folder 8
To top

"Friends", 1967 February-June

  • Box 2, folder 9
To top

Julian and Father Francisco, 1967

  • Box 2, folder 10
To top

Mrs. Pellegrind, 1955 September 22

  • Box 2, folder 11
To top

Boris Paternak, 1958

  • Box 2, folder 12
To top

Boris Pasternak, 1958-1960

  • Box 12, folder 28
To top

Lydia Pasternak Slater, 1959-1961

  • Box 2, folder 13
To top

Robert E. Rambusch, 1959

  • Box 2, folder 14
To top

Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki, 1959

  • Box 2, folder 15
To top

Lawrence S. Thompson, 1951-1964

  • Box 2, folder 16
To top

Helen and Kurt Wolff, 1958-1960

  • Box 2, folder 17
To top

Vittorio Emanuele Zino, 1966

  • Box 2, folder 18
To top

Six Letters, 1957-1974

Scope and Contents

The Six Letters series includes correpsondence between Carolyn Reading Hammer and individuals involved in the production of a short book called called Six Letters. The book compiled by Boris Pasternak's wife, Lydia with the help of Carolyn Reading Hammer, discusses the correspondence between Boris Pasternak and Thomas Merton and the profound impact the letters had on each man's life. Much of the correspondence reflects the Hammer's effort to organize Merton's thoughts and rights for publication.

Carolyn Hammer correspondence with Bellarmine College, 1972

  • Box 2, folder 19
To top

Carolyn Hammer correspondence with James Laughlin, 1971-1974

  • Box 2, folder 20
To top

Carolyn Hammer correspondence with Mrs. Frank O'Callaghan, 1973

  • Box 2, folder 21
To top

Carolyn Hammer correspondence with Lydia Pasternak Slater, 1971-1974

  • Box 2, folder 22
To top

Carolyn Hammer correspondence with Naomi Burton Stone, 1972-1973

  • Box 3, folder 1
To top

Boris Pasternak correspondence with Thomas Merton: photocopies, 1958-1960

  • Box 3, folder 2
To top

Postscript to Disputed Questions, 1960

  • Box 3, folder 3
To top

Thomas Merton correspondence with Aleksei Surkov, 1958 October 29

  • Box 3, folder 4
To top

The Pasternak Affair, photocopy of essay by Thomas Merton, 1960

  • Box 3, folder 5
To top

"Tribute to Greatness", New York Times book review of Doctor Zhivago by Thomas Merton, 1957 February 1

  • Box 3, folder 6
To top

Book reviews of Doctor Zhivago, 1958

  • Box 3, folder 7
To top

Prose, 1940-1974, undated

Scope and Contents

The Prose series contains notes and drafts of articles and books by Thomas Merton. Significant manuscripts included are The Ascent to Truth, "The Secular Journal: Perry Street" and "The Sign of Jonas". Merton liked to circulate manuscripts with friends and many of the drafts included in the series are copies with editing notes.

The Ascent to Truth, circa 1951

  • Box 3, folder 8-9
  • Box 4, folder 1
To top

The Ascent to Truth, discarded materials, circa 1951

  • Box 3, folder 10
To top

The Ascent to Truth, notes, circa 1951

  • Box 3, folder 11
To top

The Ascent to Truth, rejected pages, circa 1951

  • Box 4, folder 2
To top

Prayer and Spiritual Perfection, undated

  • Box 4, folder 3
To top

Prayer as Worship and Experience, undated

  • Box 4, folder 4
To top

Basic Principles of Monastic Spirituality, undated

  • Box 4, folder 5
To top

"Letter to an Innocent Bystander", undated

  • Box 4, folder 6
To top

"The Monk in a Changing World", undated

  • Box 4, folder 7
To top

Bread in the Wilderness, undated

  • Box 4, folder 8
To top

Bread in the Wilderness, prologue, undated

  • Box 4, folder 9
To top

Bread in the Wilderness, epilogue, undated

  • Box 4, folder 10
To top

Bread in the Wilderness, notes, undated

  • Box 4, folder 11
To top

"The Psalms and Contemplation", undated

  • Box 4, folder 12
To top

"Christ unveils the meaning of the Old Testament": drawing, undated

  • Box 4, folder 13
To top

"Background and Attitude of Monastic Postulants in the relation to failure of vocation", undated

  • Box 4, folder 14
To top

"Identity Crisis and Monastic Vocation", 1964 October

  • Box 4, folder 15
To top

"The Monastic Renewal Problem and Prospects", for Ed Rice, 1966 December

  • Box 4, folder 16
To top

"Notes for the Philosophy of Solitude", undated

  • Box 4, folder 17
To top

Last of the Fathers, undated

  • Box 4, folder 18
To top

"Spiritual Perfection", undated

  • Box 4, folder 19
To top

Faith and Violence, additions, 1967 December

  • Box 4, folder 20
To top

Grace, Work, and Holiness, undated

  • Box 4, folder 21
To top

"Life at Gethsemani", undated

  • Box 4, folder 22
To top

The Living Bread, undated

  • Box 4, folder 23
To top

The Living Bread, introduction, undated

  • Box 4, folder 24
To top

Loretto and Gethsemani, undated

  • Box 4, folder 25
To top

Martha Mary and Lazarus, preface, 1955

  • Box 4, folder 26
To top

"The Morning of Alleluia", undated

  • Box 4, folder 27
To top

Monastic Peace, undated

  • Box 5, folder 1
To top

"Journal of My Escape from the Nazis", 1955 October 28

  • Box 5, folder 2
To top

"Introduction to the English Monastics", undated

  • Box 5, folder 3
To top

Mystics and Zen Masters, undated

  • Box 5, folder 4
To top

"A Kerygma for the Nativity", undated

  • Box 5, folder 5
To top

The New Man, undated

  • Box 5, folder 6
To top

"Time Life Bible", 1967 December

  • Box 5, folder 7
To top

"Original Child Bomb", undated

  • Box 5, folder 8
To top

Prometheus: A Meditation, 1958 June 21

  • Box 5, folder 9
To top

"Redeeming the Time: The Catholic Church after Vatican II", undated

  • Box 5, folder 10
To top

"Eight Freedom Songs", undated

  • Box 5, folder 11
To top

"Salve Regina", undated

  • Box 5, folder 12
To top

"A Homily on Mary", undated

  • Box 5, folder 13
To top

"A Homily on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception", undated

  • Box 5, folder 14
To top

A Secular Journal: Perry Street, 1939-1940

  • Box 5, folder 15
To top

A Secular Journal: Perry Street, preface, circa 1940

  • Box 5, folder 16
To top

A Secular Journal: Perry Street, test press, 1941

  • Box 5, folder 17
To top

Havana: from a journal written in Cuba, 1940

  • Box 5, folder 18
To top

Seeds of Contemplation, editing notes, undated

  • Box 5, folder 19
To top

"Letters to a Papal Volunteer", undated

  • Box 6, folder 1
To top

The Seven Storey Mountain, discarded pages and book sleeve, undated

  • Box 6, folder 2
To top

The Sign of Jonas, undated

  • Box 6, folder 3
To top

The Sign of Jonas, introduction to part one, undated,

  • Box 6, folder 4
To top

The Sign of Jonas, corrections, 1955

  • Box 6, folder 5
To top

The Sign of Jonas, test press, circa 1953

  • Box 6, folder 6
To top

The Sign of Jonas, book sleeves and publisher's pamphlets, 1953

  • Box 6, folder 7
To top

Silence in Heaven, undated

  • Box 6, folder 8
To top

"Living in Silence", undated

  • Box 6, folder 9
  • Box 6, folder 10
To top

"Danish Non-Violent Resistance to Hitler", undated

  • Box 6, folder 11
To top

"In Acceptance of Pax Medal", 1963

  • Box 6, folder 12
To top

"Target Equals City", undated

  • Box 6, folder 13
To top

No Man is an Island, preface to the Vietnamese translation, 1966

  • Box 6, folder 14
To top

No Man Is an Island, book jacket, circa 1955

  • Box 12, folder 25
To top

Notes for Merton Reader Project, undated

  • Box 6, folder 15
To top

A Thomas Merton Reader, test press, pages 1-173, circa 1974

  • Box 6, folder 16
To top

A Thomas Merton Reader, test press, pages 173-Appendix, circa 1974

  • Box 6, folder 17
To top

A Thomas Merton Reader, appendix, undated

  • Box 7, folder 1
To top

Thoughts in Solitude, undated

  • Box 7, folder 2
To top

Thoughts in Solitude, test press, undated

  • Box 7, folder 3
To top

"The Tragedy of Perrin", 1964 April

  • Box 7, folder 4
To top

"The Urgent Conscience" by Piero Bargelini and translated by Merton for Carolyn and Victor Hammer, 1958 July

  • Box 7, folder 5
To top

"Water of Siloe", notes, undated

  • Box 7, folder 6
To top

"Qu'est-ce que La Contemplation?", undated

  • Box 7, folder 7
To top

"What Should I Do? Sayings from the Desert Fathers", undated

  • Box 7, folder 8
To top

"A New Christian Consciousness?", 1967 February

  • Box 7, folder 9
To top

Cold War Letters, 1961-1962

  • Box 7, folder 10
To top

"Comment on the Psychological Causes of War by Erich Fromm", undated

  • Box 7, folder 11
To top

"Grace, Work, and Holiness", undated

  • Box 7, folder 12
To top

Camus and the Catholic Church, 1966 August

  • Box 7, folder 13
To top

"Art and Morality", written for the New Catholic Encyclopedia, undated

  • Box 7, folder 14
To top

"Perfection, Christian", undated

  • Box 7, folder 15
To top

"Clement of Alexandria", selections from Protreptikos, undated

  • Box 7, folder 16
To top

"Concerning the collection in Bellarmine College Library, A statement", 1963 November 10

  • Box 7, folder 17
To top

"Contemplation", for the Catholic Youth Encyclopedia, undated

  • Box 7, folder 18
To top

Selected Letters of St. Bernard, preface, undated

  • Box 7, folder 19
To top

Notes on the Lord's Prayer by Raissa Maritain, introduction, undated

  • Box 7, folder 20
To top

"Hermit Life", for the Catholic Youth Encyclopedia, undated

  • Box 7, folder 21
To top

Breakthrough to Peace, preface, undated

  • Box 7, folder 22
To top

"A Christian Look(s) at Zen", 1966 July

  • Box 7, folder 23
To top

"The Monastic Theology of St. Aelred", 1968 September

  • Box 7, folder 24
To top

In the Face of Death by Fr. Alfred Delp, preface, undated

  • Box 7, folder 25
To top

Religion in Wood, preface, undated

  • Box 7, folder 26
To top

Presence a Dieu at a Soi Meme by Fr. Francois de Sainte Marie, introduction, undated

  • Box 7, folder 27
To top

"Learning to Live", 1967 July

  • Box 7, folder 28
To top

Peace on Earth: A Christian Responsibility, undated

  • Box 7, folder 29
To top

Life of Fr. Joseph Cassant: preface to the American edition, undated

  • Box 7, folder 30
To top

A Prayer from the De Anima of Cassidorus, undated

  • Box 7, folder 31
To top

In Search of a Yogi by Dom Denys Rutledge, preface, undated

  • Box 7, folder 32
To top

The New Man, preface to the Japanese edition, 1967 October

  • Box 7, folder 33
To top

Thoughts of Solitude, preface to Japanese edition, 1966 March

  • Box 7, folder 34
To top

"Spiritual Life", notes, undated

  • Box 7, folder 35
To top

"Spiritual Life" for the Catholic Youth Encyclopedia, undated

  • Box 7, folder 36
To top

Blessed are the Meek, undated

  • Box 7, folder 37
To top

Blessed are the Meek, 1966 January

  • Box 7, folder 38
To top

"Christian Humanism", undated

  • Box 7, folder 39
To top

"Christian Solitude: Notes on an Experiment", undated

  • Box 7, folder 40
To top

"Christianity and Race in the U.S.", undated

  • Box 7, folder 41
To top

"Classic Chinese Thought", undated

  • Box 7, folder 42
To top

"The Climate of Mercy for Albert Schweitzer", 1964 April

  • Box 8, folder 1
To top

"A Christmas Devotion", undated

  • Box 8, folder 2
To top

"Comment: re Forum", vol. 1, no. 1, undated

  • Box 8, folder 3
To top

"The Contemplation and the Atheist", 1967 October

  • Box 8, folder 4
To top

"The Contemplative Life: Its Meaning and Necessity", undated

  • Box 8, folder 5
To top

"Creative Silence", 1968 June

  • Box 8, folder 6
To top

"The Cross Fighters: Notes on a Race War", 1967 November

  • Box 8, folder 7
To top

"The Death of God and the End of History", 1967 March

  • Box 8, folder 8
To top

"Honest to God: Letter to a Radical Anglican", 1964

  • Box 8, folder 9
To top

"D.T. Suzuki: the Man and His Work", 1966 August

  • Box 8, folder 10
To top

"Easter: The New Life", undated

  • Box 8, folder 11
To top

"Ecumenism and Monastic Renewal", 1967 November

  • Box 8, folder 12
To top

"The English Mystics", undated

  • Box 8, folder 13
To top

"Ethics and War: A Footnote", undated

  • Box 8, folder 14
To top

"Final Integration Toward a Monastic Therapy", 1968 March

  • Box 8, folder 15
To top

"From Pilgrimage to Crusade", 1964 August

  • Box 8, folder 16
To top

"Herakleitos the Obscure and his legacy", undated

  • Box 8, folder 17
To top

"The Historical Consciousness", 1968 February 25

  • Box 8, folder 18
To top

"The Hot Summer of Sixty Seven", 1967 August

  • Box 8, folder 19
To top

"Apologies To An Unbeliever", 1966 April

  • Box 8, folder 20
To top

"Isaac of Stella: An Introduction", undated

  • Box 8, folder 21
To top

"The Jesuits in China", undated

  • Box 8, folder 22
To top

"Letter to a Papal Volunteer", circa 1963

  • Box 8, folder 23
To top

"Letter to a Poet about Vallejo", undated

  • Box 8, folder 24
To top

"Love and Solitude", 1966 March-April

  • Box 8, folder 25
To top

"A Forward to Marcel and Buddha", 1967 January

  • Box 8, folder 26
To top

"The Meaning of Malcolm X, "for Continuum, 1967 May

  • Box 8, folder 27
To top

"Letter to NCR", undated

  • Box 8, folder 28
To top

"The Monk in Diaspora", undated

  • Box 8, folder 29
To top

"Letters Published in Liberation", undated

  • Box 8, folder 30
To top

"Christianity Encounters Zen", undated

  • Box 8, folder 31
To top

"Nicholas of CUSA: Dialogue About the Hidden God", undated

  • Box 8, folder 32
To top

"News of the Jouce Industry" for Sewanee Review, 1968 June

  • Box 8, folder 33
To top

"Notes on Love and Need", 1966 April

  • Box 8, folder 34
To top

"Openness and Cloister for Spiritual Life", 1967 July

  • Box 8, folder 35
To top

"Passivity and Abuse of Authority", undated

  • Box 8, folder 36
To top

"The Pasternak Affair", undated

  • Box 8, folder 37
To top

"Peace and Protest", 1965 November

  • Box 8, folder 38
To top

"Peace and Revolution", 1968

  • Box 8, folder 39
To top

"Prayer for Peace", undated

  • Box 8, folder 40
To top

"Poetry and Contemplation (A Repraisal)", undated

  • Box 8, folder 41
To top

"Rafael Albderti and His Angels", for Continuum, 1966 December

  • Box 8, folder 42
To top

"Renewal and Discipline in the Monastic Life", 1968 February

  • Box 8, folder 43
To top

"Renewal in Monastic Education", undated

  • Box 8, folder 44
To top

"Rites for the Extrusion of a Leper", 1967 June

  • Box 8, folder 45
To top

"Tribute to Ruben Dario", undated

  • Box 8, folder 46
To top

"Sacred Art and Catholic Education", undated

  • Box 8, folder 47
To top

"St. Anselm and His Argument", undated

  • Box 8, folder 48
To top

"The Sacrament of Advent in the Spirituality of St. Bernard", undated

  • Box 8, folder 49
To top

"Saint Bernard Monk and Apostle", undated

  • Box 9, folder 1
To top

"Pleasant Hill: A Shaker Village in Kentucky, 1806-1910", undated

  • Box 9, folder 2
To top

"Confession - Firmada de Crimenes Contra el Estado", undated

  • Box 9, folder 3
To top

"The Solitary Life", undated

  • Box 9, folder 4
To top

"Solitary Life in the Shadow of a Cistercian Monastery", undated

  • Box 9, folder 5
To top

"Spiritual Direction", undated

  • Box 9, folder 6
To top

"The Stronger: Poverty of an Anti-Hero", 1968 March

  • Box 9, folder 7
To top

"The Street Is For Celebration", 1967 October

  • Box 9, folder 8
To top

"Terror and the Absurd: Violence and Non-Violence in Albert Camus", undated

  • Box 9, folder 9
To top

"Letter to Surkov about Pasternak", 1958 October 29

  • Box 9, folder 10
To top

"Three Prayers", undated

  • Box 9, folder 11
To top

"Three Saviors", 1966 September

  • Box 9, folder 12
To top

"Pure Love in Transforming Union: St. Bernard and St. John of the Cross Compared", undated

  • Box 9, folder 13
To top

"The Transforming Union in St. Bernard and St. John of the Cross", undated

  • Box 9, folder 14
To top

"Two Chinese Classics", undated

  • Box 9, folder 15
To top

"Virginity and Humanism in the Latin Fathers", undated

  • Box 9, folder 16
To top

"Five Important Books", for Catholic Book Annual, undated

  • Box 9, folder 17
To top

"Notes on The Small Rain by Raymond Roseliep", undated

  • Box 9, folder 18
To top

"Statement on a Modern Priest Looks at his Outdated Church by Fr. James Kavanaugh", undated

  • Box 9, folder 19
To top

"Auschwitz: A Family Camp", 1967 August

  • Box 9, folder 20
To top

"A Book Review; The Benedictines: A Digest for Moderns", 1962

  • Box 9, folder 21
To top

"An Enemy of the State", undated

  • Box 9, folder 22
To top

"Enfemia Fort I Cogul - L'eremetisme a la Catalunya", for Studia Monastica, 1965

  • Box 9, folder 23
To top

"Guigo the Carthusian", 1963 March

  • Box 9, folder 24
To top

"Book Review; Hesychasm", for Orientalia Christiana Analecta, 1967 April

  • Box 9, folder 25
To top

"Ishi: A Meditation", 1967 February

  • Box 9, folder 26
To top

"Book Review; Morte D'urban: Two Celebrations", undated

  • Box 9, folder 27
To top

"Book Review; Die Monastiche Godanke", undated

  • Box 9, folder 28
To top

"Book Review; Sain Bruno le Primier des ermites de Chartreuse", undated

  • Box 9, folder 29
To top

"Book Review; Oeuvre Spirituelles", undated

  • Box 9, folder 30
To top

"Book Review; Seeking God", for Jubilee, undated

  • Box 9, folder 31
To top

"The Shoshoneans", 1967 May

  • Box 9, folder 32
To top

"Book Review; Saint Anselm and His Biographer", undated

  • Box 9, folder 33
To top

"A Review of Nashida Kitaro", 1965 April

  • Box 9, folder 34
To top

"War and Vision: The Autobiography of a Crow Indian", 1967 October

  • Box 9, folder 35
To top

"Who is Nat Turner?", undated

  • Box 9, folder 36
To top

"The Wild Places", 1963 February

  • Box 9, folder 37
To top

"Wilderness and Paradise" for Cistercian Studies, 1966 November

  • Box 9, folder 38
To top

"Zen Catholicism Dom Aelred Graham's Suggestion", undated

  • Box 9, folder 40
To top

"Writings as Temperature" for Sewanee Review, 1968 September

  • Box 9, folder 39
To top

"Zukofsky: The Paradise Ear A Review for the Critic", 1966 November

  • Box 9, folder 41
To top

"Advent Chouraqui-Messiah of Israel Cross Currents", 1961

  • Box 9, folder 42
To top

"Apocrypha", undated

  • Box 9, folder 43
To top

"Approach to Faith", undated

  • Box 9, folder 44
To top

"Berdiaev- Towards a New Epoch": London, 1949

  • Box 9, folder 45
To top

"Biblical Man O.T.", undated

  • Box 9, folder 46
To top

"Cassian", undated

  • Box 9, folder 47
To top

"Christian Asceticism" San Augustine, 1950-1951

  • Box 9, folder 48
To top

"Clement of Alex Danielon", undated

  • Box 9, folder 49
To top

"Contemplative Life: Structure of Soul", page 8, undated

  • Box 9, folder 50
To top

"The Dialogue of Life and Death in Us", undated

  • Box 9, folder 51
To top

"Dictation- Novices", undated

  • Box 9, folder 52
To top

"The Didache", undated

  • Box 9, folder 53
To top

"Divine Office", undated

  • Box 9, folder 54
To top

"Faith", undated

  • Box 9, folder 55
To top

From a discarded manuscript on Communism, undated

  • Box 9, folder 56
To top

"Hindu Thought and Life", undated

  • Box 9, folder 57
To top

"Holy Trinity Homily", undated

  • Box 9, folder 58
To top

"Holy Week", undated

  • Box 9, folder 59
To top

"How We See?", undated

  • Box 9, folder 60
To top

"Importance of the Book in Celtic Monasticism, Celtic Nora", undated

  • Box 9, folder 61
To top

"Levitical Holiness", undated

  • Box 9, folder 62
To top

"Matyrs and Apologists", undated

  • Box 9, folder 63
To top

"The Novitiate", undated

  • Box 9, folder 64
To top

"Pasternak", undated

  • Box 10, folder 1
To top

"Peguy's Prayer of Confidence", undated

  • Box 10, folder 2
To top

"Psalms St. Hilary", undated

  • Box 10, folder 3
To top

"Purity of Heart", undated

  • Box 10, folder 4
To top

"Recollection", undated

  • Box 10, folder 5
To top

"Religious Vocation", undated

  • Box 10, folder 6
To top

"The School of the Spirit", undated

  • Box 10, folder 7
To top

"37 Meditations", undated

  • Box 10, folder 8
To top

"Advent. Art thou he who is to come or look we for another?", undated

  • Box 10, folder 9
To top

"Appendix to the Vows", 1960 November

  • Box 10, folder 10
To top

"Some Notes on Sacred Art", undated

  • Box 10, folder 11
To top

"Notes on Sacred and Profane Art": Japanese translation, undated

  • Box 10, folder 13
To top

"Art and Worship", undated

  • Box 10, folder 12, 14-15
To top

"Carmelite Society", undated

  • Box 10, folder 16
To top

"Christian Worship and Social Reform", undated

  • Box 10, folder 17
To top

"Christmas Homily", 1963

  • Box 10, folder 18
To top

"The Cross in Our Lives", undated

  • Box 10, folder 19
To top

"Danger Signals: Points for Examination of Conscience", undated

  • Box 10, folder 20
To top

"Easter Homily" for Argus Communications, 1967 September

  • Box 10, folder 21
To top

"Immaculate Conception", undated

  • Box 10, folder 22
To top

"Letters to U.S. Catholic", 1967 December 3

  • Box 10, folder 23
To top

"The Mature Conscience", undated

  • Box 10, folder 24
To top

"Memorandum on Monastic Renewal", 1964

  • Box 10, folder 25
To top

"Memorandum: Summary of my position regarding war and peace", 1962 May 11

  • Box 10, folder 26
To top

"Monastic Introduction to Scripture", 1952

  • Box 10, folder 27
To top

"Note on Vatican II Pastoral", undated

  • Box 10, folder 28
To top

"Notes for Book on the Contemplative Life", undated

  • Box 10, folder 29
To top

"Pasternak's Letter To Georgian Friends", 1968 January

  • Box 10, folder 30
To top

"Purity of Heart, Day of Recollection", 1962 July

  • Box 10, folder 31
To top

"On Remembering Monsieur Delmas", undated

  • Box 10, folder 32
To top

"The Rule of St. Benedict", undated

  • Box 10, folder 33
To top

"The Scholasticate: Texts from the Cistercian Fathers", undated

  • Box 10, folder 34
To top

"Sententiae, Ex Operibus S. Bernardi Selectae", undated

  • Box 10, folder 35
To top

"Seven words" for Ned O'Gorman, 1966 May

  • Box 10, folder 36
To top

"Statement on Clerical Celibacy", undated

  • Box 10, folder 37
To top

"Tower of Babel (an explanation)", undated

  • Box 10, folder 38
To top

"The Universe as Epiphany: The Spirituality of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin", undated

  • Box 10, folder 39
To top

"Vatican Pavillion, New York World's Fair", undated

  • Box 10, folder 40
To top

"What is Contemplation? Revision and Afterthought", undated

  • Box 10, folder 41
To top

Viewpoints, censor's copy, undated

  • Box 12, folder 26
To top

Poetry, 1940-1966, undated

Scope and Contents

The poetry series includes poems by Thomas Merton as well as poems by Raissa Maritain and Rafael Alberti which were translated by Thomas Merton. Most of the poems are about spirituality, yet some reflect American culture like an Ode to Ernest Hemingway. The collection concludes with a file containing many draft works by the famous American poet Robert Lax. Lax was a close childhood friend of Merton's and sent him many poems in his minimalist style.

"The Great Men of Former Times", undated

  • Box 10, folder 42
To top

"Message to be Inscribed on Mark Van Doren's Hamilton Medal", 1959 March 7

  • Box 10, folder 43
To top

"Prayer to Saint Anatole", undated

  • Box 10, folder 44
To top

"Epitaph for a Public Servant (In Memoriam of Adolf Eichmann)", undated

  • Box 10, folder 45
To top

"Hopeless and Felons", undated

  • Box 10, folder 46
To top

"Paper Cranes (The Habakusha Come to Gethsemani)", undated

  • Box 10, folder 47
To top

"With the World in My Bloodstream", 1966 April

  • Box 10, folder 48
To top

"Roman Nocturnes" by Rafael Alberti, 1966

  • Box 10, folder 49
To top

"Glass Orchard" unpublished poem by Raissa Maritain, undated

  • Box 10, folder 50
To top

"The Glove", "Recipe", "Eurydice", "The Cloud", undated

  • Box 10, folder 51
To top

"Edifying Cables or Letters to a Corridor", undated

  • Box 11, folder 1
To top

"Early Poems", 1940-1942

  • Box 11, folder 2
To top

"Advice to a Young Prophet", undated

  • Box 11, folder 3
To top

"An Elegy for Ernest Hemingway", undated

  • Box 11, folder 4
To top

"And the Children of Birmingham", undated

  • Box 11, folder 5
To top

"A Dream at Arles on the Night of the Mistral", 1960

  • Box 11, folder 6
To top

"Family Ode", undated

  • Box 11, folder 7
To top

"Elegy for James Thurber", undated

  • Box 11, folder 8
To top

"Glose on the Sin Ixion", undated

  • Box 11, folder 9
To top

"Love Winter when the Plant says Nothing", undated

  • Box 11, folder 10
To top

"Macarius and the Pony", undated

  • Box 11, folder 11
To top

"Macarius the Younger", undated

  • Box 11, folder 12
To top

"Message from the Horizon", undated

  • Box 11, folder 13
To top

"The Moslems' Angels of Death", Algeria, 1961

  • Box 11, folder 14
To top

"News from the School of Chartres", undated

  • Box 11, folder 15
To top

"Grace's House", undated

  • Box 11, folder 16
To top

"Night Flowering Cactus", undated

  • Box 11, folder 17
To top

"O Sweet Irrational Worship", undated

  • Box 11, folder 18
To top

"Seven Archaic Images", undated

  • Box 11, folder 19
To top

"Song for the Death Averroes", undated

  • Box 11, folder 20
To top

"To Alphonso Cortes", undated

  • Box 11, folder 21
To top

"What to Think When it Rains Blood", undated

  • Box 11, folder 22
To top

"Why Everybody Looks Up to Legends and Heroes", undated

  • Box 11, folder 23
To top

"Jorge Carrera Andrade", undated

  • Box 11, folder 24
To top

"Ernesto Cardenal", undated

  • Box 11, folder 25
To top

"Pablo Antonio Cuadra Introductory Notes", undated

  • Box 11, folder 26
To top

"Pablo Antonio Cuadra", undated

  • Box 11, folder 27
To top

"La Verdad: Alfonso Cortes", undated

  • Box 11, folder 28
To top

"Some Poems of Raissa Maritain": translated by Thomas Merton, undated

  • Box 11, folder 29
To top

"A Song from the Geography of Lograire", undated

  • Box 11, folder 30
To top

"Hagia Sophia", undated

  • Box 11, folder 31
To top

"Six Poems": censor's remarks, 1946 May 16

  • Box 11, folder 32
To top

"The Anatomy of Melancholy", undated

  • Box 11, folder 33
To top

"Birdcage Walk", undated

  • Box 11, folder 34
To top

"Early Mass", 1950 November

  • Box 11, folder 35
To top

"An Elegy for a Monastery Barn", undated

  • Box 11, folder 36
To top

"Elias: variations on a theme", 1956

  • Box 11, folder 37
To top

"Landscape", undated

  • Box 11, folder 38
To top

"Sincerity", undated

  • Box 11, folder 39
To top

"Spring Storm", undated

  • Box 11, folder 40
To top

"To a Severe Nun", undated

  • Box 11, folder 41
To top

"When in the Soul of the Serene Disciple", undated

  • Box 11, folder 42
To top

"Wisdom", undated

  • Box 11, folder 43
To top

"Louisville 2", undated

  • Box 11, folder 44
To top

"The City After Noon", undated

  • Box 11, folder 45
To top

"Poemas de Thomas Merton: Traduccion de Ernesto Cardena", undated

  • Box 11, folder 46
To top

Poems from Robert Lax, circa 1959

  • Box 12, folder 22
To top

Published Articles, 1950-1968, undated

Scope and Contents

The Published Articles series includes writings by Thomas Merton that appeared in major publications during the 1950s and 1960s. Many of the articles concern contemplation and monastic life in the twentieth century. Some of the articles were translated into a foreign languages for publications in Europe and South America.

"Benedictine Rule and Active Presence in the World", 1963

  • Box 11, folder 47
To top

"Can We Survive Nihilism?", 1967 April 15

  • Box 11, folder 48
To top

"Pacem in Terris", 1965 February 13

  • Box 11, folder 49
To top

"Christian Humanis", 1967

  • Box 11, folder 50
To top

"The Christian Message in a Changing World", 1964

  • Box 11, folder 51
To top

"Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander"/"We Move Through Anger and Daydreams", 1966 August 5

  • Box 11, folder 52
To top

"Contemplation in a World of Action", 1968 April

  • Box 11, folder 53
To top

"Dans Le Desert De Dieu", undate

  • Box 11, folder 54
To top

"That Earthly Paradise--America", 1967 April 30

  • Box 11, folder 55
To top

"The English Mystics", 1961 October

  • Box 11, folder 56
To top

"Epitaph for a Public Servant", 1967 May

  • Box 11, folder 57
To top

"Four Poems of Cesar Vallejo", 1960

  • Box 11, folder 58
To top

"Gandhi e il Ciclope", 1966 August

  • Box 11, folder 59
To top

"Gloss on the Sin of Ixion", 1963 September 21

  • Box 11, folder 60
To top

"I Will Be Your Monk", 1950 May

  • Box 11, folder 61
To top

"Review of In Tune with the World: A Theory of Festivity", undated

  • Box 11, folder 62
To top

"Le Recuillement", undated

  • Box 11, folder 63
To top

"Regain the Old Monastic Charism", 1968 January 11

  • Box 11, folder 64
To top

"Merton's View on Nonviolence", 1968 February

  • Box 12, folder 1
To top

"Merton y un poema de Alfonso Cortes", 1962 December

  • Box 12, folder 2
To top

"Monastic Christianity Encounters Spirit of Zen", 1963 April 13

  • Box 12, folder 3
To top

"Mount Athos", 1959 August

  • Box 12, folder 4
To top

"Nhat Hanh is My Brother", 1966 June 9

  • Box 12, folder 5
To top

"Notes on Art", 1956 November

  • Box 12, folder 6
To top

"Notes on Love", 1967 August

  • Box 12, folder 7
To top

"Notes on Prayer and Action", circa 1967 April

  • Box 12, folder 8
To top

"The Originators", undated

  • Box 12, folder 9
To top

"Poetry and Contemplation: A Repraisal", 1958 October 24

  • Box 12, folder 10
To top

"Self Denial and the Christian", 1950 March 31

  • Box 12, folder 11
To top

"Rain and the Rhinoceros: An eminent religious writer reveals the value of solitude", 1965 May

  • Box 12, folder 12
To top

"The Root of War", 1961 October

  • Box 12, folder 13
To top

"The Sacred City", undated

  • Box 12, folder 14
To top

"Saint Bernard et L'Amerique", undated

  • Box 12, folder 15
To top

"The Self Modern Man and the New Christian Consciousness", 1967 April

  • Box 12, folder 16
To top

"Review of the Story of Life", 1964 December 4

  • Box 12, folder 17
To top

"Thomas Merton a Aleksei Surkov", 1958 November 16

  • Box 12, folder 18
To top

"Thomas Merton on Renunciation", 1950 September

  • Box 12, folder 19
To top

"Todo y Nada: Writing and Contemplation", 1950

  • Box 12, folder 20
To top

"Meditations on Christian Unity: We Are One Man", undated

  • Box 12, folder 21
To top

"Action and Contemplation in St. Bernard", 1953

  • Box 12, folder 23
To top

"St. Bernard Monk and Apostle", 1953

  • Box 12, folder 24
To top

Photographs, 190-1967, undated

Scope and Contents

The Photographs series primarily contains photographs of Thomas Merton or the Abbey of Gethsemani. In some of the photographs Merton appears relaxed in jeans and a shirt, however most show Merton in Clerical dress or a monk's robe and poising for the picture.

Circus performers, undated

  • Box 13, item 1
To top

M. Louis make shift and troupe of brothers and soeurs pocket pickers, undated

  • Box 13, item 2
To top

M. Louis Metback and acrobats, undated

  • Box 13, item 3
To top

Argentine, Spanish, Italian, Russian friends, undated

  • Box 13, item 4
To top

Thomas Merton; taken by Ron Person, 1960

  • Box 13, item 5
To top

Thomas Merton at Gethsemani, 1960

  • Box 13, item 6
To top

Thomas Merton, 1960 October

  • Box 13, item 7
To top

Thomas Merton taken by Carolyn Reading Hammer, undated

  • Box 13, item 8
To top

Thomas Merton in clerical dress, taken at Victor Hammer's home in Lexington, 1966

  • Box 13, item 9
To top

Thomas Merton taken by Carolyn Hammer, 1967 December

  • Box 13, item 10
To top

Thomas Merton by a lake taken by Carolyn Reading Hammer, 1967 December 23

  • Box 13, item 11
To top

Kurt Wolff Locarno, 1960 January

  • Box 14, item 1
To top

Thomas Merton in nature, undated

  • Box 14, item 2
To top

Thomas Merton: Variations on a theme!, undated

  • Box 14, item 3
To top

Thomas Merton in nature, undated

  • Box 14, item 4-6
To top

Scenic view of Gethsemani, undated

  • Box 14, item 7
To top

Thomas Merton and Roscoe Pierson, librarian for Lexington Theological Seminary, 1960 May

  • Box 14, item 8
To top

Thomas Merton, undated

  • Box 14, item 9
To top

Thomas Merton: Fighting Mad!, undated

  • Box 14, item 10
To top

Thomas Merton poising next to a road, undated

  • Box 14, item 11-12
To top

Old Garden House, undated

  • Box 14, item 13
To top

Thomas Merton in nature, undated

  • Box 14, item 14-16
To top

Old House Barn at Gethsemani, undated

  • Box 1, item 27
  • Box 1, folder 28
To top

UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center is open Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 4:00pm. Appointments are encouraged but not required. Schedule an appointment here.

Researchers must have an SCRC Researcher Account to request materials. View account set-up and use instructions here.

Questions? Contact SCRC via our Contact Form.

You may come across language in UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center collections and online resources that you find harmful or offensive. SCRC collects materials from different cultures and time periods to preserve and make available the historical record. These materials document the time period when they were created and the view of their creator. As a result, some may demonstrate racist and offensive views that do not reflect the values of UK Libraries.

If you find description with problematic language that you think SCRC should review, please contact us at SCRC@uky.edu.

UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center is open Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 4:00pm. Appointments are encouraged but not required. Schedule an appointment here.

Researchers must have an SCRC Researcher Account to request materials. View account set-up and use instructions here.

Questions? Contact SCRC via our Contact Form.

Requests

No items have been requested.



Submit a request for SCRC materials.




You may come across language in UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center collections and online resources that you find harmful or offensive. SCRC collects materials from different cultures and time periods to preserve and make available the historical record. These materials document the time period when they were created and the view of their creator. As a result, some may demonstrate racist and offensive views that do not reflect the values of UK Libraries.

If you find description with problematic language that you think SCRC should review, please contact us at SCRC@uky.edu.