Thomas Merton ORIGINAL CHILD BOMB 1st Ed 1961 Anti-War Trappist Monk Peace HC

by Thomas Merton

$92 · Offered by eBay · No longer available

First edition

.no-subscribe { display: none} [contenteditable] { pointer-events: none; } Original Child Bomb: Points for Meditation to be Scratched on the Walls of a Cave by Thomas Merton Published by New Directions, New York, 1961. Limited First Edition of 8000. Very good hardcover, no dustjacket as issued. Tight binding, solid spine, some edge and corner wear to cover, joints starting, clean unmarked text. Square 4to, unpaginated, illustrated by Emil Antonucci. A haunting anti-war prose poem by Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk, poet, and social critic renowned for his spiritual writings like The Seven Storey Mountain. Published in 1961 by New Directions, a New York press known for avant-garde literature, this unsigned first edition emerged during the Cold War’s peak, just before the Cuban Missile Crisis. Merton’s work reflects his growing activism against nuclear proliferation, written in response to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which he saw as a moral abyss. Limited to 8000 copies, plus 500 signed copies, this scarce title underscores Merton’s shift from contemplative monk to outspoken advocate for peace. The book itself is a slim hardcover, measuring approx 9 x9 inches, with a minimalist design—clean lines and a stark dustjacket befitting its somber tone. The text, presented as numbered meditations, mimics a cave-wall scratching, evoking a primitive, urgent warning for future generations. New Directions, a publisher tied to modernist voices like Ezra Pound, ensured this

• Publisher: New Directions
• Year: 1961
• Condition: Very Good

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