Collections : [Rare Book & Manuscript Library]

Correspondence, manuscripts, documents, photographs, art work, audio cassette, printed materials by and about Thomas Merton. The correspondence covers the years from his study at Columbia to his death in Bangkok. Among the cataloged correspondence are: Daniel Berrigan, Mark Van Doren, Luis Somoza, Jacque Maritain, Aldous Huxley, James Laughlin, Robert Lax, Grover Cleveland Smith, John Howard Griffin, William Henry Shannon and Victoria Ocampo. The extensive manuscript collection was assembled primarily by Sister Thérèse Lentfoehr, Mark Van Doren, and Robert Shepherd. Among the more significant manuscripts are: corrected typescript of THE SEVEN STOREY MOUNTAIN; fragments of his NOVITIATE JOURNAL; notebooks and journals used in THE SIGN OF JONAS; numerous draft of poems; most of his lecture and conference notes which he used while serving as master of scholastics and, later, master of novices. There is an extensive collection of mimeographed articles, many inscribed to Sister Thérèse Lentfoehr; four watercolors by his father, Owen Merton, and many humorous and devotional drawings by Merton; many photographs of Merton, as well as photographs taken by Merton. There is an audio cassette of the radio play by Bruce Stewart entitled ME AND MY SHADOW, produced by the BBC in 1989. The printed material consists of numerous clippings and some offprints, pamphlets, and books