The Christian Philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas
New York: Random House, 1956. First edition. Large octavo (9 1/4 inches tall), original beige cloth with vignette to front, black spine label, beige endpapers, original dust jacket. Neat early owner signature, mild toning to edges and spine of unclipped dust jacket. A near-fine copy. Item #1099
"WE PASS FROM ST. THOMAS'S PHILOSOPHY TO HIS PRAYER, AND FROM HIS PRAYER TO HIS POETRY WITHOUT BECOMING AWARE OF ANY CHANGE OF LEVEL. AND INDEED THERE IS NO CHANGE!"
First edition of this study of the Angelic Doctor by Etienne Gilson—one of the leading exemplars of Neo-Thomism in the Catholic Intellectual Tradition. An excellent copy.
"Neo-Thomism found its greatest champions in France, principally in the persons of Jacques Maritain and Etienne Gilson" (Joseph Pearce). The Christian Philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas is "a survey of the philosophy of St. Thomas by one of its most profound contemporary students. Remarkable for its originality, many would question the extent to which the philosophy of St. Thomas is made to depend on his ideology" (George F. McLean). The text consists of an Introduction and three sections: Part One. God, Part Two. Nature, Part Three. Morality. The Appendix presents "A Catalogue of St. Thomas's Works," a comprehensive and valuable Thomist bibliography by I.T. Eschmann, O.P.
With Gilson's Dedication to his daughter, Cecile: "To C.G. who is one with me in the love of theology" and his short Foreword (dated, "Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies/Toronto, January 6, 1956") stressing Thomas's eternal truths: "Personally, I do not say of Thomas that he was right, but that he is right." Translated from the French by L.K. Shook of St. Michael's College, Toronto (Laurence Shook went on to write a biography of Gilson in 1984). The marbled dust jacket was designed by Peter Oldenburg. Approbations. Pearce. Literary Converts: Spiritual Inspiration in an Age of Unbelief. McLean, An Annotated Bibliography of Philosophy in Catholic Thought: 1900-1964, 296.
Price: $150.00