Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Title
Date(s)
- 1966-1968 (Creation)
Extent
1 folder(s), 16 item(s), 17 page(s)
Name of creator
Biographical history
Russell Bourne was an editor working for Time-Life Books in New York. He follows up Abraham Heschel's inquiry about writing an essay for the Time-Life Illustrated and Annotated Bible.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
Merton was asked by his friend Rabbi Abraham Heschel, a biblical scholar, in December of 1966 if he was interested in writing an introduction for a new edition of the Bible. The planned book, an annotated and illustrated edition, by Time-Life Books was not published; however, the manuscript for the article was published as a book by the Liturgical Press in 1970 under the essay's title <i>Opening the Bible</i>. Merton had qualms about writing an introduction to the Bible, as he did not consider himself a biblical scholar. Also, in a response to Heschel in 1966/12/12, he mentions that he is "not too happy with big fancy projects organized by the mass media". After his essay was written, he suggested that it was not an adequate introduction, but could fit between the New and Old Testaments. The last couple of letters also mention Merton's literary magazine <u>Monks Pond</u>. Bourne sends him a concrete poem and Merton mentions a plan for an upcoming issue featuring concrete poems exclusively. (Sources: see the enclosed letters and the introduction by Rob Stone to the 1986 edition of <i>Opening the Bible</i>.)
System of arrangement
Records are arranged chronologically. Records are not divided into Series.
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
Regulations governing use of the collection can be found here: (‹https://bellarmine.libraryhost.com/index.php/rules›).
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
Languages of the material
Scripts of the material
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Immediate source of acquisition
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
See also the posthumous publication of Merton's essay on the Bible, entitled «Opening the Bible» (‹https://bellarmine.on.worldcat.org/search?queryString=no%3A12945431›; see the 1986 edition for an introduction by Rob Stone), and "Ninevah to Calvary: Thomas Merton and a Spiritual Geography of the Bible" by William Apel, published in «The Merton Annual», Volume 13 (October 2000): pp. 235-244; and see also the "Stone, Naomi Burton" file.