St. Thomas Aquinas; Angel of the Schools
London: Sheed & Ward, 1948. Octavo, original green cloth, original dust jacket. Gentle soiling, shallow chip to the head of the toned dust jacket. Very good indeed. Item #787
"THE APOSTLE OF THE MIND, THE DOCTOR OF TRUTH, THE RESTORER OF THE INTELLECTUAL ORDER, ST. THOMAS WROTE NOT FOR THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY BUT FOR OURS"
Post-war edition of Jacques Maritain's classic portrait of the "Angel of the Schools."
First published by Sheed and Ward in 1931 and reprinted here under their Hart Library imprint (with a leaping stag on the dust jacket), Maritain's study is "a simple but eloquent portrayal of St. Thomas. He is studied as the saint, the philosophical architect, the apostle of modern times, and the common Christian doctor" (George McLean). The book is illustrated with a frontispiece portrait of Thomas (from an altarpiece by Crivelli) and the text is preceded by a passage in Latin (from Missal and Breviary: Prayer for the Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas). The text is composed of a Preface and four sections: I. The Saint, II. The Wise Architect, III. The Apostle of Our Time, IV. The Common Doctor. The text concludes with a valuable bibliography and several appendices, including a chronology, three papal documents on Thomism, and the Prayer of St. Thomas: "Order the beginning, direct the progress and perfect the achievement of my work, Thou Who art true God and true Man and livest and reignest for ever and ever." McLean, An Annotated Bibliography of Philosophy in Catholic Thought: 1900-1964, 300.
Price: $35.00