Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Title
Date(s)
- 1964 September 16 (Creation)
Extent
1 page(s); Carbon copy of a typed letter (not signed).
Name of creator
Biographical history
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) was a writer and Trappist monk at Our Lady of Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky. His writings include such classics as The Seven Storey Mountain, New Seeds of Contemplation, and Zen and the Birds of Appetite. Merton is the author of more than seventy books that include poetry, personal journals, collections of letters, social criticism, and writings on peace, justice, and ecumenism.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
First lines: "About the passage in the «New Man» to which you refer: I do not have a copy of the book at"... The letter discusses the meaning of the "sin and mental illness" in Merton's book «The New Man» (specifically, the third paragraph of Section 136). Merton explains that he is not suggesting that "actual sin usually leads to mental illness", but rather that all illness and death stem from the fallen human condition.
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
Languages of the material
- English