The Sign of Jonas; The Journal of Thomas Merton
New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1953. First edition. Octavo, original brown cloth, gilt spine and device to front board, yellow top edge, photographic endpapers, original dust jacket. Early owner name to half title inked over with faint bleeding to title page, slight toning and modest edge-wear to corners and spine ends of price-clipped dust jacket. A very good copy. Item #1455
"THE LIFE OF EVERY MONK, OF EVERY PRIEST, OF EVERY CHRISTIAN IS SIGNED WITH THE SIGN OF JONAS"
First edition of The Sign of Jonas, "the day by day experiences and meditations of Thomas Merton from the time of 'The Seven Storey Mountain' to the present."
Containing entries from Merton's journal, the text spans the years 1946 - 1952 and consists of a Prologue. Journey to Nineveh, and Part One. Solemn Profession, Part Two. Death of an Abbot, Part Three. Major Orders, Part Four. To the Altar of God, Part Five. The Whale and the Ivy, Part Six. The Sign of Jonas. The concluding Epilogue: Fire Watch, July 4, 1952 is "one of Merton's most famous pieces...perhaps the purest expression of his spirituality of places and spaces. In it he is monologuist, secret sharer, investigator, and tour guide, and the fire watch is a stage of his pilgrimage, one described in the second person, in the present tense, in such a way that the reader might 'be' him, trying to see how he and the Abbey of Gethsemani have changed since The Seven Storey Mountain made them famous" (Paul Elie). Dell'Isola. Thomas Merton: A Bibliography, A17. Elie. The Life You Save May Be Your Own: An American Pilgrimage.
Price: $50.00