The Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University

MERTON'S CORRESPONDENCE WITH:
Hammer, Victor Karl, 1882-1967

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Descriptive Summary

Record Group: Section A - Correspondence

Dates of materials: 1955-1967

Volume: 222 item(s); 271 pg(s)

Scope and Content

Biography

Victor Hammer was an artist and typographer originally from Vienna. He moved to the United States as Hitler rose to power and took a position at Wells College in New York. In 1948, he retired from Wells College and became artist-in-residence at Transylvania College in Lexington, Kentucky. He brought a hand press he had used in Italy to Lexington and printed under his Italian imprint of Stamperia del Santuccio. The letters do not tell when the two first met, but by the first letter from Hammer in 1955, he states that he had been to Gethsemani and exchanged ideas with Merton already and was friends with Br. Giles. Merton also received permission to visit Victor and Carolyn Hammer in Lexington. On one trip in 1959, Merton saw a triptych painted by Victor. Hammer had intended to paint a Madonna and child but it did not turn out right. In the center panel, a woman crowns a child. Merton declared her to be "Hagia Sophia", the Holy Wisdom of God, which prompted Merton to write his poem "Hagia Sophia". (Source: Witness to Freedom, p. 3.)

Usage Guidelines and Restrictions

Related Information and Links

See also Cold War Letters #24b and #71, and other letters from Merton, published in Witness to Freedom, pp. 2-14; and both sides fo the correspondence in The Letters of Thomas Merton and Victor and Carolyn Hammer: Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam.

Other Finding Aids

If the person in correspondence with Merton has full text records in the Merton Center Digital Collections, there will be a numeric link to them below.
   

Series List

This Record Sub-Group is not divided into Series and is arranged chronologically.

Container List

SeriesDateTypeTo/FromFirst LinesPubFull TextNotes
 1955/10/24 TLS[x]from MertonThis is to let you know that work is fast progressing on the translation of the Guerric ChristmasYes  
 1955/11/08 TALSto MertonThank you for your letter of October 24. My wife and I are happy to hear that the translationYes  
 1955/11/26 TLS[x]from MertonOn the Eve of the First Sunday in Advent, I am happy to be able to send you the translation of Bl.Yes  
 1955/12/03 TL[x]to MertonThe translations arrived and we can now more definitely plan for an edition. Yet, I would likeYes  
 1955/12/17 TLS[x]from MertonI have waited for the typescript of the Sermons to be ready before writing to you.Yes  
 1956/02/05 TALS[x]from MertonMy new life as novice master is a busy one and I am more often in the woods than at the typewriter.Yes  
 1956/03/28 TLS[x]from MertonI have not forgotten that you asked me the address of the Benedictines who publish Zodiaque.Yes  
 1956/07/19 TLS[x]from MertonToday I am mailing back to the Kentucky University Library the most interesting "Manual of Zen"Yes  
 1956/08/31 TLS[x]from MertonThank you for your note. I was so glad to hear you would be able to get over soon. It will beYes  
 1956/11/03 TLS[x]from MertonThank you so much for the proof. The prayer looks very fine, and I have had to make very fewYes  
 1956/11/19 TLS[x]from MertonNeedless to say I feel immensely indebted to both of you for the beautiful work you didYes  
 1957/03/no? HNS[x]from MertonThe proofs are very attractive. I have corrected this one set and am keeping the others.Yes [1956 or 1957, published letter as approximately March 1957 / simply dated "Tuesday"]
 1957/08/08 TLS[x]from MertonImmediately after my letter to Mrs Hammer went out in the mail the other day, your <u>Dialogue</u>Yes  
 1957/08/24 TALS[x]from MertonMany thanks for your letter and for the picture and article which accompanied it. I was veryYes  
 1957/10/15 HPCS[x]to MertonThis was a revelation, the perfect Cistercian architecture. Soon it will be restored and thenYes [from Carolyn and Victor Hammer - see original in archives classification Sub-Section C.3, manuscript proofs of "Art and Worship" - verso: L'abbaye du Thoronet] after restoration will be "destroyed by the tourists"
 1958/03/27 TLS[x]from MertonThe Crucifix is very impressive in its hieratic simplicity. I find the quiet color schemeYes  
 1958/04/18 TLS[x]from MertonOrdinarily, all the authorities on liturgy (in the sense of rubrics) insist that the altar cross  [not in published letters]
 1958/05/02 HLS[x]from MertonWhen I wrote yesterday I may have given the impression that the only convenient time for you to comeYes  
 1958/05/22 TLS[x]from MertonMany thanks for the pictures- they are just the kind of thing I am looking for, and I like StYes  
 1958/07/29 TALS[x]from MertonHere is the proof of "The Unquiet Conscience". I have only made one fussy change,Yes  
 1958/08/14 TLSto MertonI found your paper to be most stimulating and I hope you will permit me to attach a few notes whichYes  
 1958/10/14 HPCSto MertonWe had to stay longer here than we expected. I had to do a cross much bigger than the one I broughtYes [from Carolyn and Victor Hammer - verso: "La Cathédral - Pillier des Anges [-] L'Ange avec la Lance] Council of Europe
 1959/01/02 transcriptfrom MertonThe 17th will be fine. We will be expecting you two weeks from today. Meanwhile I shall returnYes [copied from published letters]
 1959/01/10 transcriptfrom MertonThanks for your card - I will expect you and Victor next Saturday, a week from today.Yes [copied from published letters]
 1959/02/10 transcriptfrom MertonAfter reading over the Fiedler ms. I find myself in a difficult position. The material is extremelyYes [copied from published letters]
 1959/03/06 transcriptfrom MertonHere is the proof. I need not say that as usual I am very pleased with it. The uncial will beYes [copied from published letters]
 1959/03/16 transcriptfrom MertonPerfectly all right about the copyright. I think it is safe to let it go, and of course that willYes [copied from published letters]
 1959/04/28 transcriptfrom MertonIt is already a week since the "all-memorable day" of my visit to Lexington and to the Stamperia delYes [copied from published letters]
 1959/04/28 transcriptfrom MertonIt is already a week since the "all-memorable day" of my visit to Lexington and to the Stamperia delYes [copied from published letters]
 1959/05/02 TALSto Mertonever since you, looking at the triptych, have asked me who is the figure crowning ChristYes  
 1959/05/14 (#01)TAL[d]from MertonI have not rushed to reply to your letter first because I have been a little busy, and secondYes  
 1959/05/14 (#02)TAL[d]from MertonI have not rushed to reply to your letter first because I have been a little busy, ans [sic] secondYes  
 1959/05/14 (#03)TL[d]from MertonI wrote that first page without keeping a carbon, but I am getting someone to copy it because I amYes [second page of letter - does not fit with other drafts]
 1959/06/01 transcriptfrom MertonThanks for your letter and the proofs - I am returning these with a couple of corrections.Yes [copied from published letters]
 1959/06/13 transcriptfrom MertonYour letter reached me this morning. I think it is a very good idea to include the story aboutYes [copied from published letters]
 1959/06/18 transcriptfrom MertonI know this is the end of the Abbot-Milido story, but I do not know if this follows the page I sentYes [copied from published letters]
 1959/06/23 transcriptfrom MertonHere are the proofs again. I hope you got Abbot Milido all right - that "awful sight." I am glad weYes [copied from published letters]
 1959/06/24 transcriptfrom MertonHere are the last of the proofs, with one correction. By the way do you think you could give us someYes [copied from published letters]
 1959/06/no? (#01)transcriptfrom MertonHere they are. I think everything is correct. So I am getting them back to you with the onlyYes [copied from published letters / only dated 1959 but placed by editors between June and July 1959 letters]
 1959/06/no? (#02)transcriptfrom MertonI am terribly sorry to hear you are ill. I shall miss seeing and Carolyn tomorrow, but that is notYes [copied from published letters / only labelled Friday but placed by editors between June and July 1959 letters]
 1959/07/14? transcriptfrom MertonThanks for your welcome note. I am glad the printing is finished and still more glad that the workYes [copied from published letters / dated Tuesday, July 14, estimated to be 1959]
 1959/07/30 transcriptfrom MertonHere is a text beginning with "E." I have cooked it up a bit, but I think it will do: Erat in SceteYes [copied from published letters]
 1959/08/12 transcriptfrom MertonHere are some off prints of the Pasternak article. Some are for you and the rest for the library.Yes [copied from published letters]
 1959/08/19 HLSto Mertonthank you for your very kind letter - which was rewarding. However, let us not forget that thingsYes [from Carolyn and Victor Hammer]
 1959/08/24? transcriptfrom MertonThe prospectus is perfectly all right - go ahead with it as you please. I haven't heard from allYes [copied from published letters - year estimated]
 1959/09/10 transcriptfrom MertonI wanted you and Carolyn to see this copy of a letter from Bob Lax in which he givesYes [copied from published letters]
 1959/09/18 TALSto MertonThank you so much for your letter of Sept 10; with the photostat of your friend Lax's letter.Yes  
 1959/09/24 transcriptfrom MertonIt was good to get your letter and Carolyn's books. I am happy to hear about the exhibit.Yes [copied from published letters]
 1959/12/08 HLSto MertonThank you so much for your kind letter and the photos which we really cherish. Please let us knowYes  
 1959/12/12 transcriptfrom MertonThank you for your note of the other day. I have as yet no news when Laughlin will be here,Yes [copied from published letters]
 1959/12/25? transcriptfrom MertonWe have put up the large crucifix in our novitiate chapel and the smaller one in the chapelYes [copied from published letters]
 1960/01/04 transcriptfrom MertonIn this short note I want to make to you two large proposals. First of all, as a possibilityYes [copied from published letters]
 1960/01/07 TALSto MertonThank you for your kind and good letter. I am - and of course Carolyn is too - very happy thatYes [from Carolyn and Victor Hammer]
 1960/01/08 HNSto MertonI have read the [indecipherable word..] and I think it would not matter if, for a while, it remainsYes [at the bottom of 1960/01/07 letter - handwritten note from Victor Hammer]
 1960/01/30 (#01)HLSto Mertonenclosed find two copies of the first two pages - one for you one back for us - and I shall continueYes  
 1960/01/30 (#02)other WALLS: RES SANCTAE / RES SACRAE [-] Among the res sanctae / walls are especially stressed.Yes  
 1960/02/05 transcriptfrom MertonHere are the first proofs with one correction. I am happy that this project is going ahead and thatYes [copied from published letters]
 1960/02/08 HLSto MertonThe red in the proofs are your underscored words. Of course capital letters at the beginning of theYes  
 1960/02/09 HLSto MertonThanks for your letter and the proofs[.] As to p. 7 - I will see how the next paragraph comes outYes [on verso of 1960/02/08 letter]
 1960/02/15 transcriptfrom MertonIt took quite a long time for this to reach me - I only got it this morning. I do not think weYes [copied from published letters]
 1960/02/22 TLSto MertonI have now added a dash after each paragraph since I did not want to indent them, and I think thereYes  
 1960/02/23 transcriptfrom MertonIn this game of spiritual tennis I am returning the ball promptly. I have taken advantage of yourYes [copied from published letters]
 1960/03/20 (#01)TLSto MertonIf the weather isn't too bad next Saturday we plan to come and see you. So we leave it to theYes  
 1960/03/20 (#02)other WHAT OUGHT I TO DO ? [-] Sayings of the Desert Fathers / from the collection in Migne's LatinYes [advertisement for <i>What ought I to do? Sayings of the Desert Fathers</i>, "From the Collection in Migne's Latin Patrology" - translated by Merton]
 1960/03/22? transcriptfrom MertonI just got your note. I will be expecting you Saturday unless it snows cats and dogs. But let usYes [copied from published letters]
 1960/03/26 transcriptfrom MertonYour special delivery reached me this morning - is there such a thing as air mail from LexingtonYes [copied from published letters]
 1960/04/07 transcriptfrom MertonAt our last enjoyable meeting recently I forgot to mention that I had once again changed my mindYes [copied from published letters]
 1960/04/12 transcriptfrom MertonAll I can say is that the meaning of the cross and the Resurrection is just that. Death is destroyedYes [copied from published letters]
 1960/04/13 transcriptfrom MertonJust after I mailed my letter yesterday I received your note about the copyright. The copyright lineYes [copied from published letters]
 1960/05/04 transcriptfrom MertonPlease forgive the red ribbon, I am trying to use it up. I am just writing to say that I imagineYes [copied from published letters]
 1960/05/11 (#01)HLSto Mertonthank you for your letter. The book will be finished today; and Isaac of Ninive is most interestingYes  
 1960/05/11 (#02)HLSto Mertonyes God and beauty do exist, but as soon as one tries to explain them they disappear as if theyYes  
 1960/05/16 transcriptfrom MertonHere is the poem. It is perhaps not long enough, but rather than add useless lines I think it wouldYes [copied from published letters]
 1960/05/25 transcriptfrom MertonDid you get the poem all right? I hope so, and hope that it is satisfactory. I received from GeoYes [copied from published letters]
 1960/05/26 HLSto Mertonof course the poem is fine and we like it very much. We even want your permission to print it forYes [from Carolyn and Victor Hammer]
 1960/05/no transcriptfrom MertonI have made two corrections and am keeping the second set of proofs - assuming that was yourYes [copied from published letters]
 1960/06/09 HLSto Mertonhere are two proofs. I have to cut a new initial. Since this is a companion to the Desert FathersYes  
 1960/06/10 transcriptfrom MertonWhat was my astonishment recently in Louisville to see on the front page of the newspaper a pictureYes [copied from published letters]
 1960/06/13 transcriptfrom MertonI agree with you that the way the poem is printed on the yellow paper is altogether better,Yes [copied from published letters]
 1960/06/27 transcriptfrom MertonI do not know what plans you may have about coming over: it is just possible that this may crossYes [copied from published letters]
 1960/06/28 transcriptfrom MertonAs I expected, our letters crossed. The cover is very very fine, It [sic] just fits the book, but isYes [copied from published letters]
 1960/07/20 transcriptfrom MertonYour note said that you would be back Friday so I am answering it now to say I hope to see you soon.Yes [to Carolyn and Victor Hammer - copied from published letters]
 1960/07/27 transcriptfrom MertonFine - I look forward to seeing you both Saturday at noon. Would it be possible for Carolyn to takeYes [copied from published letters]
 1960/08/07 TALSto MertonI am returning your paper which I have carefully read twice. I think it very good and since youYes  
 1960/08/09 HLSto Mertonthank you so much for sending the text of the broad side and the letter from Rome - we enjoyed both.Yes  
 1960/08/17 transcriptfrom MertonCould you and Carolyn think about possibly coming over on Sept 3rd, or the 1st or 2nd? Or elseYes [copied from published letters]
 1960/09/05 transcriptfrom MertonI would have written sooner but I have not found it easy to untangle all the threadsYes [copied from published letters]
 1960/09/15 transcriptfrom MertonThanks for your note. It was as I thought. And I have an added complication, but I think it willYes [copied from published letters]
 1960/10/17 transcriptfrom MertonYour letter with the proof arrived last week, about the 11th I think. It was postmarked on the 10th,Yes [copied from published letters]
 1960/11/05 TLSto MertonUnexpectedly we have to go to Cincinnati on the 12. of this month, and since Carolyn cannot manageYes  
 1960/11/09 transcriptfrom MertonYour letter arrived this morning. It is too bad you will not be coming this Saturday. But thenYes [copied from published letters]
 1960/11/no? transcriptfrom MertonI saw Dr and Mrs Wygal the other day and they expressed a wish to come down Saturday so as to seeYes [copied from published letters]
 1960/12/01 transcriptfrom MertonIt was certainly very pleasant to have you over here the other day and I enjoyed it immensely,Yes [copied from published letters]
 1960/12/05 HLSto MertonThank you for your nice, really sweet, letter, we are so happy. I am answering immediately in orderYes  
 1960/12/07 transcriptfrom MertonYour good letter just arrived. I think the chests are a good idea. I shall certainly need two.Yes [copied from published letters]
 1960/12/12 HLSto Mertonenclosed in a separate Envelope perhaps, are your Christmas cards, 25 or so. I hope you can useYes [see also typed signed note from Carolyn at the bottom of this handwritten letter of the same date from Victor]
 1960/12/23 transcriptfrom MertonI expect a note from day to day saying when you will come, but any one of those days is all right,Yes [to Carolyn and Victor Hammer - copied from published letters]
 1960/12/27 transcriptfrom MertonBy now Dave Rowland will have told you of his rather harrowing afternoon here. The table is veryYes [copied from published letters]
 1961/02/02 transcriptfrom MertonHaving been very busy, and on retreat, and also sick since I last saw you, I have not yet got aroundYes [copied from published letters]
 1961/02/09 transcriptfrom MertonHere it is. I have done by best to promote useful knowledge. You must now be loyal to the traditionYes [copied from published letters]
 1961/02/20 transcriptfrom MertonWould a week from Saturday, March 4th, be a good day for you to come over? The talk would be,Yes [copied from published letters]
 1961/02/20 transcriptfrom MertonWould a week from Saturday, March 4th, be a good day for you to come over? The talk would be,Yes [copied from published letters]
 1961/03/30 TALSto MertonThank you for sending the New Directions edition of the Sayings. I was so touched by the kind wordsYes [from Carolyn and Victor Hammer]
 1961/04/10 transcriptfrom MertonIt was a pity you could not get over here Saturday, it was such a lovely afternoon, but I will beYes [copied from published letters]
 1961/04/no transcriptfrom MertonThe novice whom I deputed to take down the crucifix and make the measurements has done so.Yes [copied from published letters - only year of 1961 stated, but published between April 10 and May 24, 1961 letters]
 1961/05/24 transcriptfrom MertonI have finally rewritten the bit on Sophia and here is the ms. It is a little long for a broadsideYes [copied from published letters]
 1961/05/26 HLSto MertonThank you for your letter and the poem. We can't say more for the moment, because we are soYes [from Carolyn and Victor Hammer - previously mis-dated 1961/October/26 (Roman numeral looks like an X but seems to be a V)]
 1961/06/09 transcriptfrom MertonI was very happy with your good note and glad you liked <i>Hagia Sophia</i> as I thought youYes [copied from published letters]
 1961/06/18 HLSto MertonThis was a crowded week and I missed completely to tell you that we could not come yesterday.Yes [from Carolyn and Victor Hammer]
 1961/06/21 transcriptfrom MertonThanks for your good note: the 15th of July will be fine. I wondered if you had gone on a tripYes [copied from published letters]
 1961/07/11 transcriptfrom MertonBy all means, I am expecting you Saturday. Bring your friend along. There will be no one elseYes [copied from published letters]
 1961/07/24 HLSto Mertonhere are the proofs and there is only one question on my part and you would have to decide:Yes  
 1961/07/27 transcriptfrom MertonThis looks wonderful. I am very definitely against the dots at the end, and think one period isYes [copied from published letters]
 1961/08/19 HLSto MertonI am now working on the drawing for the print of Hagia Sophia which will be on the first page.Yes [from Carolyn and Victor Hammer]
 1961/08/22 transcriptfrom MertonMany thanks for your letter. I am happy to hear about the drawing and "no industrial enterprise."Yes [copied from published letters]
 1961/11/02 transcriptfrom MertonThe best times for me would be November 17-18 but failing that the 10th and 11th. If those do notYes [copied from published letters]
 1961/11/09 transcriptfrom MertonFine, I will expect you at lunch time Friday 17th about 11:30? Will I be able to read while you workYes [copied from published letters]
 1961/11/22 transcriptfrom MertonI have come across a most suitable quotation that might go under the woodcut, except that it isYes [copied from published letters]
 1961/12/19 transcriptfrom MertonI was very sorry to hear Carolyn had to go to the hospital but on the other hand it was good newsYes [copied from published letters]
 1961/12/20 HLSto MertonI suppose you never got the letter I wrote you about 10 days ago when Carolyn came back fromYes  
 1961/12/23 transcriptfrom MertonMany thanks for the proof. I think it will do very well in the book. It is very simple and austere.Yes [copied from published letters]
 1962/01/18 transcriptfrom MertonI was so sorry to hear that both you and Carolyn had been ill. It was a pity you and I and J. couldYes [copied from published letters]
 1962/01/21 TLSto Mertonthank you for sending us your notes on the nuclear bomb. - About a year after the first one wasYes  
 1962/01/25? transcriptfrom MertonAs for brainwashing, the term is used very loosely about almost anything. Strict technicalYes [Cold War Letters #44b - copy from bound set]
 1962/01/28 transcriptfrom MertonAs we came out of our retreat I found in the pile of mail your proof and letter. First of allYes [same letter, but more content, as Cold War Letters #44b, dated January 25, 1962 - copy from published text from <i>The Letters of Thomas Merton and Victor and Carolyn Hammer</i>]
 1962/02/13 transcriptfrom MertonMarch 3 will be find as far as I am concerned, and I hope the weather will be nice. If it is not weYes [copied from published letters]
 1962/02/no? transcriptfrom MertonMarch 3 will be find as far as I am concerned, and I hope the weather will be nice. If it is not weYes [copied from published letters - no date but placed in February 1962 in published letters]
 1962/05/09 TALSto Mertonenclosed find a proof of an unfinished metal-cut which I attempted to make for the poem becauseYes [from Carolyn and Victor Hammer]
 1962/05/10 (#01)transcriptfrom MertonMore and more I see that it is not the moral principles which are at stake, but more radically,Yes [Cold War Letters #71 - copy from bound set, taken from letter of May 10, 1962]
 1962/05/10 (#02)transcriptfrom MertonI was glad to get your letter, and Carolyn's card about Jonathan Greene came at the same time.Yes [full copy of the same letter as Cold War Letters #71 dated May, 1962 - copy from published letters]
 1962/05/29 transcriptfrom MertonI look forward very much to seeing you and Carolyn this Saturday, June 2, at the regular time.Yes [copied from published letters]
 1962/06/26 transcriptfrom MertonI am glad to hear that the printing is finished and that you are ready to bring the opus over.Yes [copied from published letters]
 1962/07/23 transcriptfrom MertonThis looks really fine. I have hastily inserted translations for the two added verses.Yes [copied from published letters]
 1962/07/26 transcriptfrom MertonHere are the final proofs. I tried to carefully spot every little slip, and I find one must lookYes [copied from published letters]
 1962/08/22 transcriptfrom MertonNow there is <i>no</i> difference in time. We are on the same time as you - I will expect youYes [copied from published letters]
 1962/09/24 HPCSto MertonAs I have your image with me we have not lost touch with you. Carolyn recovered completelyYes [note from Carolyn at the bottom of a postcard of the same date from Victor - verso: color photograph of a mosaic - "Monreale Cathedral - Christ Driving Money changers from the Temple"]
 1962/10/27 HPCSto Mertonjust out of the caves we are happy to be in God's Light again. But it was necessary for me to seeYes [from Carolyn and Victor Hammer - verso: color photograph of cave drawings at the Grotte de Lascaux in France]
 1962/11/21 transcriptfrom MertonThanks for all your cards from Europe, especially the guards from Venice which I have on the wallYes [copied from published letters]
 1962/11/24 transcriptfrom MertonI was glad to get your card this morning and to learn that you are back. It is perhaps late to planYes [copied from published letters]
 1962/12/25? transcriptfrom MertonI think of you on this Christmas morning and will remember you both as I go down to Mass.Yes [copied from published letters - only dated December 25, no year, but placed in 1962 in published letters]
 1963/02/09? transcriptfrom MertonI think of you on this Christmas morning and will remember you both as I go down to Mass.Yes [copied from published letters - no date but placed in February 9, 1963 in published letters]
 1963/03/03 transcriptfrom MertonIt was a good thing you did not come down in February, it would have been much too cold.Yes [copied from published letters]
 1963/03/04? transcriptfrom MertonI too have been thinking about seeing you and Carolyn again though today the weather is hardlyYes [copied from published letters - no year listed but placed in published letters in 1963]
 1963/03/19? transcriptfrom MertonI am so glad you are coming Saturday - and hope it will be nice. Does Carolyn have in the libraryYes [copied from published letters - no month or year listed (just Tuesday 19th) but placed in published letters in March of 1963]
 1963/04/07 transcriptfrom MertonYou probably realize the quandary I am in. I just got a letter from the President of the U.Yes [to Victor and Carolyn Hammer - copied from published letters]
 1963/04/no? transcriptfrom MertonI am so glad you will be able to "represent" me to "make me present" at commencement and receiveYes [copied from published letters - no date but placed after letter of April 7, 1963 in published book and references first Saturday in May in the future]
 1963/06/07 transcriptfrom MertonThanks for your note, and I am especially grateful for Victor's Trappistic exploit as my secretYes [to Victor and Carolyn Hammer - copied from published letters]
 1963/07/16 transcriptfrom MertonNot having heard anything from J. I presume he is not going to come down in July, and I am goingYes [to Victor and Carolyn Hammer - copied from published letters]
 1963/08/16 transcriptfrom MertonI was sorry that Carolyn's mother was ill and that you could not come last month.Yes [copied from published letters]
 1963/09/04 transcriptfrom MertonI was sure I had written today Saturday 7th would be fine, but in any case I sent a telegram todayYes [copied from published letters]
 1963/09/15 transcriptfrom MertonI am in the hospital in Louisville with a cervical disk, besides bursitis and arthritis.Yes [copied from published letters]
 1963/09/29 TALSto MertonThank you for your kind letter of Sept. 15th. We were very sorry to hear about your sufferings butYes  
 1963/10/03 transcriptfrom MertonThanks for your good letter. I am back in the monastery and getting along fairly well. It will beYes [copied from published letters]
 1963/10/31 transcriptfrom MertonThis is just a reminder that our monastery timetable is changed and I will expect you at 11.15Yes [copied from published letters]
 1963/11/09 TAL[c]from MertonI shudder at the thought of attempting a long didactic poem on art. Yet who knows, someday it mayYes  
 1963/11/no? transcriptfrom MertonHere is Victor's textYes [to Victor and Carolyn Hammer - copied from published letters - year only, but placed in published letters between October 31st and November 9th, 1963]
 1963/12/13 (#01)HLSto MertonCarolyn wrote about Stanley Morrison and his suggestion to paint a Resurrection. I am alreadyYes  
 1963/12/13 (#02)other BEQUEST [-] The truth was found already long ago, it bound the noble spirits into one   
 1963/12/18 TAL[c]from MertonThanks for your good letter: I find you much more scrupulous about the treatment of religiousYes  
 1964/01/01 HLSto MertonI have read your paper on Green's book again. Since I don't know the book your remarks about itYes  
 1964/01/03? transcriptfrom MertonIt is warmer today and it may be warm next week. Why not gamble on Saturday the 11th as a goodYes [copied from published letters - dated "Fri. 3rd" and listed as January 3, 1964 in the published letters]
 1964/03/10 HLSto Mertonthe 21st would be fine but in case of bad weather, either snow or rain, we would not come and youYes  
 1964/03/13? transcriptfrom MertonI will look forward to seeing you and Carolyn on the 21st, a week from tomorrow. If you bring DrYes [copied from published letters - no year but dated 1964 in the published letters]
 1964/03/28? transcriptfrom MertonI look forward to seeing you and Carolyn on the 4th of April at the same time and hope the weatherYes [copied from published letters - dated only "Friday" but recorded as March 28, 1964 in published letters]
 1964/04/11? transcriptfrom MertonI was not sure if you and Carolyn would come today, it would have been a fine day.Yes [copied from published letters - no year but placed in 1964 in published letters]
 1964/04/14? transcriptfrom MertonYour note came today and I will expect you soon on the 18th - next Saturday. I hope the weather willYes [copied from published letters - dated "Monday", but placed as April 14, 1964 in the published letters]
 1964/06/16 HLSto MertonCarolyn gave me your letter you wrote to the Library. Though the 27th would be possible, we mustYes  
 1964/06/20 transcriptfrom MertonI am sorry to hear you are having an operation and that on this account we will not be able to getYes [copied from published letters]
 1964/08/03 HLSto Mertonnow, with the help of a magnifying glass I am able to write. The operation went according toYes  
 1964/08/05 TAL[c]from MertonIt is good to see your handwriting again. This is a sign that things are going well and that youYes  
 1964/08/08 HLSto Mertonenclosed find a letter of Lexi Joanelius that might interest you. We wonder who that martyr wasYes  
 1964/08/12 TAL[c]from MertonPerhaps your hernia operation is all over by now. I hope so, and hope that it has been successful.Yes  
 1964/10/30 HLSto Mertontoday is the first day that I don't feel so weak as it did until now. That is why I couldn't faceYes  
 1964/11/03 TAL[c]from MertonI was so pleased to hear from you and to know that you are at least fairly well, that though I am noYes  
 1964/11/17 (#01)HLSto Mertonwe were so touched by the poem, it moved us to tears. Thank you, that is all, and the only thingYes  
 1964/11/17 (#02)other Otupatersplendorisdatorluminis [-] adtegaudenspretorrestitutolumine  [Latin poem written for Hammer by Merton - written as a page proof for how it would be printed - published in the <i>Collected Poems</i> as "A Prayer of Thanksgiving Written for Victor Hammer"]
 1964/12/04 TL[c]from MertonYesterday I asked Father Abbot if I could perhaps have an exceptional permission to get overYes  
 1964/12/09? transcriptfrom MertonFine: I shall plan to see you on the 16th, a week from today. I hope that everything will work outYes [copied from published letters - no date but placed in published letters as December 9, 1964]
 1965/01/07 HLSto MertonI have read the 3 papers you left with us when we had you here; and I have read "From PilgrimageYes  
 1965/01/09 TL[c]from MertonThanks for your letter. I am glad you liked the "Pilgrimage" piece and I think you are right aboutYes [incorrectly dated by Merton as 1964/01/09]
 1965/01/20 (#01)HLSto MertonIt is now certain that in April there will be an exhibition of my work at the North Carolina MuseumYes  
 1965/01/20 (#02)other The anonymous craftsman of the middle ages existed in his work. He was admitted to a guild onlyYes [Hammer notes in letter of the same date that the enclosed are "pp. 13-14 of the <u>Concern</u>, i.e. the chapter: On the cross roads."]
 1965/02/03 HLSto Mertonwith your words you have silently embraced me, I feel the touch of your hand on my shoulder, so kindYes  
 1965/03/21 HLSto MertonI am sorry to bother you again with an urgent reply -- here is Maritain's letter, or rather hisYes  
 1965/03/24 TL[c]from MertonThanks for your letter. I was glad to get it because I had been thinking about you and wonderingYes  
 1965/04/18 transcriptfrom MertonIt is Easter morning and your Rood cross which has been veiled during Lent (according to our rule)Yes [copied from published letters]
 1965/06/23 TL[c]from MertonHere is an uncorrected carbon copy of the complete Chuang Tzu ms. I will need it back before tooYes  
 1965/07/03 TL[c]from MertonHere is something that might interest you and Carolyn: not to print necessarily (though you areYes  
 1965/07/03 transcriptfrom MertonHere is something that might interest you and Carolyn: not to print necessarily (though you areYes [copied from published letters]
 1965/07/no? transcriptfrom MertonI would not call these few the best. But as I do not have the complete ms., I cannot makeYes [copied from published letters]
 1965/08/28 transcriptfrom MertonThanks for your very good letter about the Symbolism notes. I knew you would like them.Yes [copied from published letters]
 1965/09/26 HLSto MertonIt seems to me strange that even you have missed the meaning of the passage in the Vulgate;Yes [from Carolyn and Victor Hammer]
 1965/10/22 HLSto MertonWe miss your word since we are anxious to hear from you again. In fact you owe me a responseYes  
 1965/11/02 transcriptfrom MertonToday I am sending you a copy of Chuang Tzu. I certainly got this one out fast. I have no doubtYes [copied from published letters]
 1965/11/05 transcriptfrom MertonI spoke to Father Abbot yesterday about the possibility of his making an exception and permittingYes [copied from published letters]
 1966/02/10 HLSto Mertonnow it is warmer and I am happy that I have no longer to think of you suffering the cold. Of courseYes  
 1966/02/13 transcriptfrom MertonNot only do I like 'Pebbles' very much but in many ways I think it is going to be your mostYes [copied from published letters]
 1966/03/01 transcriptfrom MertonMany thanks for your letter. I would be glad to discuss the question of your book and if it shouldYes [copied from published letters]
 1966/03/no? transcriptfrom MertonI hope to get out of the hospital tomorrow (Saturday) - The operation was quite successfulYes [to Victor and Carolyn Hammer - copied from published letters - no date but placed in published letters between March 1st and April 21st, 1966]
 1966/04/21 transcriptfrom MertonI am returning your "pebbles" as you requested. Hope you and feeling better again and can get alongYes [copied from published letters]
 1966/05/06? transcriptfrom MertonI am sorry I could not come over with J and Nicanor Parra. Too much riding in a car is perhaps stillYes [to Victor and Carolyn Hammer - copied from published letters - no year on letter but dated 1966 in published letters]
 1966/05/29 HLSto Mertonwe think of you and wonder how you really are. Perhaps still in the Infirmary? Let us know please.Yes  
 1966/06/06? transcriptfrom MertonMany thanks for your good note. I was glad to hear from you and the news that you consider comingYes [copied from published letters - no year on letter but dated 1966 in published letters]
 1966/06/22 HLSto MertonHere is a translation of Li Po's poem, please send it back when you are through.Yes  
 1966/07/02 transcriptfrom MertonAs soon as I went to the book this morning it fell right open at - our old favorite, the two eldersYes [copied from published letters]
 1966/07/11 TAL[c]from MertonI am returning "The Road to Shu is hard" after too long a delay. Forgive me. I have been behindYes  
 1966/07/18 HLSto MertonI was so happy to get your letter and am so glad to know that you are well and balanced.Yes  
 1966/07/25 transcriptfrom MertonSince the philosophical background of Buddhist thought is entirely different from our thoughtYes [copied from published letters]
 1966/08/29 TL[c]from MertonMany thanks for your note and for Lexi's good letter which I return herewith. Yes, I knew thatYes  
 1966/09/20 transcriptfrom MertonI have tried my hand at translating the Goethe quotation: it is enclosed. I don't know if the resultYes [copied from published letters]
 1966/10/02 HLSto Mertonthank you for the translation, we will try it. In the meantime I have changed the word 'good taste'Yes  
 1966/11/25 HLSto MertonMay we use these lines of yours for a Christmas message? Thank you. Got your several articlesYes [includes the following note by Merton for card: "One light, one ray and it will be the angels' Spring: [-] One flash, one glance upon the shiny pond, and then [-] asperges me! Sweet wilderness, and lo! [-] We are redeemed!"]
 1966/11/26? transcriptfrom MertonCertainly you may use my verse on your card. Delighted! Would it be possible to get a dozen cardsYes [copied from published letters - no year on letter but dated 1966 in published letters]
 1966/11/27 transcriptfrom MertonYesterday I wrote you a note and then by mistake put it in the wrong box. It may have got lost, so IYes [copied from published letters]
 1966/12/21 (#01)HLSto Mertonyesterday I came back from the hospital, much improved by two pints of blood transfused into myYes  
 1966/12/21 (#02)HLSto Mertonwhen I wrote to you today I forgot to ask you to tell me the date on which you were operated on yourYes  
 1966/12/24 TL[c]from MertonThank very much for your two notes. I was very glad to hear from you and to know you were outYes  
 1967/04/15 HLSto Mertonthank you for sending me the papers - I enjoyed several of them very much, especially that onYes  
 1967/04/24 TL[c]from MertonThanks for your letter of the other day. I was very pleased to hear from you and to receiveYes  
 1967/06/02 HLSto MertonDo you know Herrigel's book on Zen? Gilbert Highet speaks about it in his book 'talents andYes  
 1967/06/16 TL[c]from MertonIt was very good to hear from you again. Yes, I would very much like to come and see the book too.Yes  
 undated/no/no other THOMAS MERTON : HAGIA SOPHIA [-] Lexington / Kentucky / Stamperia del Santuccio  [hand pressed colophon only for "Hagia Sophia" - copyright 1962]
        

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