Vatican Council II
New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1968. First edition. Large octavo (9 5/8 inches tall), original magenta cloth, black top edge, original dust jacket. Book with only faintest soiling to boards, spot of tape residue and scratch to front panel of price-clipped dust jacket. A near-fine copy. Item #46
"THE ESSENTIAL RYNNE"
First one-volume edition of the four historic books collecting Xavier Rynne's high-profile (and controversial) reporting on the Second Vatican Council in The New Yorker.
This one-volume edition omits the chronologies, lists of speakers, and documentary appendices. The Dedication reflects the controversy: "The Authors Dedicate These Pages With Apologies To Those 'Learned And Pious' Readers Who Have Been Led Astray,*And With Best Wishes To All Lovers Of Open Windows And Fresh Air." The asterisk refers to a caustic anonymous review in Triumph in January, 1967 (printed at the bottom of the dedication page): "The efforts of 'Xavier Rynne,' I'm afraid must be condemned, derided and dismissed by any well-informed reader. Besides, the books...are a positive danger to the soul. I have seen very many learned and pious Christians led into mortal sin by them." First published in four volumes 1963-1966. Dust jacket designed by Ellen Raskin.
Price: $100.00