The Way of the Cross; Written and Illustrated by Caryll Houselander
New York: Sheed & Ward, 1955. First edition. 12 mo. (7 1/2 inches), original red cloth, original dust jacket. Christmas inscription to blank flyleaf, upper corner of page 109 torn away but present, unclipped dust jacket bright and fresh. About Fine. Item #1712
"HER MEDITATIONS ARE ALL THE MORE POIGNANT BECAUSE SHE DID NOT KNOW THAT SHE WAS SO CLOSE TO DEATH WHEN SHE WROTE THEM"
First edition of Caryll Houselander's Meditations and Prayers on the Passion of Christ—paired with the author's own dramatic illustrations. Published shortly after Houselander's death in October 1954 at age 53, this is an exceptional copy of the English Mystic's most important book.
Along with her mother, Caryll Houselander converted to the Church as a child, making her a "Rocking Horse" Catholic. After a period away from the faith, Houselander reverted to the Church in 1925. Her first book, This War is the Passion (1941) made her one of England's most popular spiritual writers. As one of her biographers has stated: "Caryll Houselander’s legacy...includes much more than a few devotional works, good as they are. Her impact, both literary and personal, was due above all, to the intensity of her vision of the suffering Christ, a vision she expressed with utter sincerity and immediacy and, on occasion, with breathtaking luminosity. Indeed, she can best be described not as a writer, nor even as an artist, but as a mystic and a visionary in the tradition of Julian of Norwich, Catherine of Siena, or Teresa of Avila" (Margot King).
Designed by Johannes Troyer for Sheed & Ward, the text features Houselander's own illustration for each Station of the Cross, connecting Christ's Passion to all human suffering. The dust jacket copy reminds us: "Her Meditations are all the more poignant because she did not know that she was so close to death when she wrote them." The back flap of the dust jacket features a self-portrait along with a quote by Msgr. Ronald Knox from her obituary (The Tablet, October 23,1954): "How wide her influence was, I have no means of telling. But we who felt it are asking God to grant her, in that new life, the peace she gave us here. Not with long faces, though: she would not like that." Approbations.
Price: $300.00