MERTON'S CORRESPONDENCE WITH:
Miller, Henry, 1891-1980
Click here to exit print-formated view.
Descriptive Summary
Record Group: Section A - Correspondence
Dates of materials: 1962-1964
Volume: 20 item(s); 30 pg(s)
Scope and Content
The Miller correspondence contains original letters and postcards from Miller to Merton, and photocopies or carbon copies of letters from Merton to Miller. The authors express respect for each others work and trade names of others they are reading. There is a humorous line of conversation related to the appearance of both men and whom they resemble.
Biography
Henry Miller was a highly controversial author, and some of his works were censored in the United States until the 1960's. The authors respected each others works despite their vastly different lifestyles. However, Miller, like Merton, had spent years in New York and in France and was an artist as well as author. Merton expresses a desire to read Miller's Tropics novels, but doubts they would get past censors at the monastery.
Usage Guidelines and Restrictions
Related Information and Links
See also Cold War Letters #92 and #95 and other letters from Merton to Henry Miller published in The Courage for Truth, pp. 274-281. See "Thomas Merton and Henry Miller : an exchange of letters" in Sub-Section D.1 for a full set of the published extant letters.
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
| Series | Date | Type | To/From | First Lines | Pub | Full Text | Notes |
| | 1962/04/20 (#01) | HLS | to Merton | I'll be sending you shortly Joseph Delteil's book on Saint Francis, believing that you will enjoy it | Yes |
| [Robert] Bob MacGregor / book on Hiroshima [<i>Original Child Bomb</i>] / book on Desert Fathers [<i>The Wisdom of the Desert</i>] / Fr. Brocard Sewell |
| | 1962/04/20 (#02) | transcript | to Merton | I'll be sending you shortly Joseph Delteil's book on Saint Francis, believing that you will enjoy it | Yes |
| [Robert] Bob MacGregor / book on Hiroshima [<i>Original Child Bomb</i>] / book on Desert Fathers [<i>The Wisdom of the Desert</i>] / Fr. Brocard Sewell |
| | 1962/07/09 (#01) | TALS[x] | from Merton | It was good to hear from you. I have often thought of writing to you, and usually that is the first | Yes |
| [Cold War Letter #92 - annotations by Merton and Miller - faint copy and difficult to read] <i>Big Sur</i>, <i>Colossus of Maroussi</i> / Giono / Delteil / Fr. Herve Chaigne / James Laughlin / <i>New Seeds of Contemplation</i> |
| | 1962/07/09 (#02) | transcript | from Merton | It was good to hear from you. I have often thought of writing to you, and usually that is the first | Yes |
| [Cold War Letters #92 - same as other letter from 1962/07/09, but taken from the collected Cold War Letters and without annotation] |
| | 1962/07/31 (#01) | HLS | to Merton | Very good to receive your fulsome letter of the 9th -- just got it here. Now about Giono -- I think | Yes |
| Giono, "Jean le Bleu" and "Que ma joie demeure" / Delteil / <i>New Seeds of Contemplation</i> / compares Merton to Emerson and Thoreau / Fr. Sewell |
| | 1962/07/31 (#02) | transcript | to Merton | Very good to receive your fulsome letter of the 9th -- just got it here. Now about Giono -- I think | Yes |
| Giono, "Jean le Bleu" and "Que ma joie demeure" / Delteil / <i>New Seeds of Contemplation</i> / compares Merton to Emerson and Thoreau / Fr. Sewell |
| | 1962/08/07 (#01) | TLS[x] | from Merton | First of all I agree that it will be hard to translate Delteil, or to find a good translator. I am | Yes |
| translation of Delteil's life of St. Francis / Cesar Vallejo / Alfonso Cortes / Aleijadinho / <i>Wisdom of the Heart</i>, <i>Colossus [ of Maroussi]<i>, <i>Time of the Assassins</i> / English Carmelites |
| | 1962/08/07 (#02) | transcript | from Merton | First of all I agree that it will be hard to translate Delteil, or to find a good translator. I am | Yes |
| [Cold War Letters #92 - same as other letter from1962/08/07, but taken from the collected Cold War Letters] |
| | 1962/08/11 | HLS[x] | from Merton | Reading your magnificent essay on Raimu -- whom I have not seen however for twenty years & more | Yes |
| crimes of American movie heroes / key to the twentieth century |
| | 1963/01/08 (#01) | HPCS | to Merton | I'm reading the Thomas Merton Reader slowly each night. How wonderful. What a lucid, exciting | Yes |
| verso description from card: "Henry Miller [-] Val's Birthday Gift [-] <i>Watercolor and Ink,</i> 11 1/2 " x 17 1/4 " [-] Collection of Valentin Miller" |
| | 1963/01/08 (#02) | transcript | to Merton | I'm reading the Thomas Merton Reader slowly each night. How wonderful. What a lucid, exciting | Yes |
| |
| | 1963/01/12 (#01) | HPCS | to Merton | Another little word to say how deeply moved I was when reading of your early life --- the life in | Yes |
| Prades, France / Merton's father / Casals |
| | 1963/01/12 (#02) | transcript | to Merton | Another little word to say how deeply moved I was when reading of your early life --- the life in | Yes |
| Prades, France / Merton's father / Casals |
| | 1963/03/no? | HLS[x] | from Merton | I was very happy with your two postcards about the [<i>Thomas Merton</i>] <i>Reader</i> & I hope | Yes |
| poems of Robert Lax / Merton sending one of his poems / Harcourt Brace / Delteil |
| | 1963/05/12 | TLS[x] | from Merton | Thanks for all your cards. I have been thinking of you a lot since I have been reading A. Perles's | Yes |
| post-war age / rumors of Merton living as hermit in Mexico and thoughts on travel vs. life at monastery / interest in <i>Tropics</i> novels / censorship / modern Greek poets |
| | 1964/06/22 | TLS[x] | from Merton | I cannot let your hummingbird get away without a resounding shout of approval. Perhaps J. Laughlin | Yes |
| [Merton attached photo of Miguel Grinberg and himself / it is not included with our copy of letter] <i>Stand Still Like the Hummingbird</i> / Europe, Zen, Thoreau / Christian spirit / Suzuki / Patchen / J.C. Powys |
| | 1964/07/04 | TLS | to Merton | Can't get over this photo you sent me--it's haunting. The two of you are as familiar to me as if I | Yes |
| compares Merton's face to a combination of his own and Jean Genet's; "the look of an ex-convict", "one who has been through the fires" / John Powys |
| | 1964/08/16 (#01) | TL[c] | from Merton | I am glad you liked the photos. By now you must have seen Grinberg himself in person. He is a | Yes |
| Merton's resemblance to Picasso / book of selections from Gandhi / Camus' <i>The Plague</i> |
| | 1964/08/16 (#02) | TLS[x] | from Merton | I am glad you liked the photos. By now you must have seen Grinberg himself in person. He is a | Yes |
| Merton's resemblance to Picasso / book of selections from Gandhi / Camus' <i>The Plague</i> |
| | undated/no/no | other | | For the first time, here is the correspondence between two great American authors - Thomas Merton | |
| Louisville Today article containing letters from Merton to and from Henry Miller |
| | | | | | | | |
|