xt7brv0cvr4c https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7brv0cvr4c/data/mets.xml https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7brv0cvr4c/data/66m28.dao.xml Merton, Thomas 1959-1964 0.1 Cubic Feet 15 items collections 66m28 English University of Kentucky The physical rights to the materials in this collection are held by the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.  Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Thomas Merton letters to Clifford Shaw Trappists Poets, American -- 20th century. Thomas Merton letters to Clifford Shaw text Thomas Merton letters to Clifford Shaw 1959 1959-1964 2016 true xt7brv0cvr4c collection false 66m28 Merton, Thomas letters to Clifford Shaw Thomas Merton letters to Clifford Shaw, 1959-1964  66m28 Processed by: Archives Staff ; machine-readable finding aid created by: Eric Weig University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center Special Collections Research Center Margaret I. King Building, North Lexington 40506-0039 SCLREF@LSV.UKY.EDU URL:  This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on  2016-10-07 16:24:37 -0400 . Description is in English. Describing Archives: A Content Standard 
   
     
       English 
     
     
       University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center 
     
     Thomas Merton letters to Clifford Shaw 
     
       Merton, Thomas 
     
     66m28 
     
       0.1 Cubic Feet 
       15 items 
     
     1959-1964 
   
   
     Biographical note 
 Thomas Merton, the son of two artists, was born in 1915. He attended Columbia University in New York, obtaining B.A. and M.A. degrees. In 1938 he converted to Catholicism and in December 1941 joined the Trappist monks. 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. A prolific writer, Merton won acclaim for his books, poems and articles, beginning with the publication of the autobiographical Seven Storey Mountain in 1948. 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. In the 1960s he was known for his concerns about social issues such as peace and civil rights. He also promoted ecumenism between Catholics, other Christians, and non-Christians. He died on December 10, 1968, of accidental electrocution while at a conference in Bangkok, Thailand.    
   
     Scope and Contents 
 The Thomas Merton letters to Clifford Shaw (dated 1959-1964; 0.1 cubic feet; 15 items) consists of correspondence between Thomas Merton and Clifford Shaw of Evansville, Indiana, and Louisville, Kentucky. Most of the letters concern arrangements for Shaw's visit to the Abbey of Gethsemani in Trappist, Kentucky (Nelson County). Shaw was interested in setting some of Merton's poems to music. Merton writes about his work,  Selected Poems of Thomas Merton  and about his religious beliefs by way of encouraging Shaw who was apparently ill at the time. There is also a signed copy of Merton's  Boris Pasternak and the People with Watch Chains  and a typescript of Merton's poem  Love winter when the plant says nothing,  which appeared in the volume,  Emblems of a Season of Fury . One of the letters mentions William Blake's poem,  The lamb  which was set to music by Shaw at the request of singer, Eileen Farrell. Merton signed all the letters with his monastic name, Father Louis. Attached to many of the cards and letters is an explanatory note about each items context written by Clifford Shaw.    
   
     Arrangement 
 Collection is arranged chronologically.    
   
     Conditions Governing Access 
 Collection is open to researchers by appointment.    
   
     Preferred Citation 
 66m28: [identification of item], Thomas Merton letters to Clifford Shaw, 1959-1964, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.    
   
     Conditions Governing Use 
 The physical rights to the materials in this collection are held by the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.    
   
     Immediate Source of Acquisition 
 Gift, 1966    
   
     Related Materials 
 2006ms071, Thomas Merton Collection, 1949-1971, undated, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center. 75M28, Thomas Merton papers, 1947-1968, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.    
   
     Trappists 
     Poets, American -- 20th century.  
     Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani (Trappist, Ky.) 
     Pasternak, Boris Leonidovich 
     Shaw, Clifford. 
     Merton, Thomas 
   
   Thomas Merton letters to Clifford Shaw 1959-1964 VF-47 1