The Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University

MERTON'S CORRESPONDENCE WITH:
Waugh, Evelyn, 1903-1966

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Descriptive Summary

Record Group: Section A - Correspondence

Dates of materials: 1948-1991, bulk 1948-1952

Volume: 31 item(s); 46 pg(s)

Scope and Content

Evelyn Waugh offered Merton some frank criticism and suggestions for improvement of his writing style for some of his early books.

Biography

Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966), famous British author and satirist, was a convert to Catholicism in 1930 and served as a mentor to Merton in his early career as a writer.

Usage Guidelines and Restrictions

Related Information and Links

See also published letters from Merton to Waugh in The Courage for Truth, pp. 3-19; and see also published letters from Waugh and Merton in Merton & Waugh: A Monk, A Crusty Old Man & The Seven Storey Mountain.

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
 1948/07/20 transcript from Waugh, Evelyn / to Harcourt BraceThank you for sending me the proofs of THE SEVEN STOREY MOUNTAIN which I have read with close   
 1948/08/02 TLS[x]from MertonYou will be surprised to get this but not, I hope, annoyed. Father Abbot gave me permissionYes [incorrectly dated "August 12, 1948" in <i>Merton &amp; Waugh</i>]
 1948/08/13 transcriptto MertonThank you for your letter of August 2nd. As I wrote to your publishers I greatly admired your bookYes [see carbon of this letter in the "Giroux, Robert" file]
 1948/09/03 (#01)TLS[x]from MertonI cannot tell you how truly happy I am with your letter and the book you sent. Both of them haveYes  
 1948/09/03 (#02)transcriptto Billings, John ShawThank you for your letter of Aug: 25th. I had already sent you a note under the false impression  [photocopied transcript from <i>The Letters of Evelyn Waugh</i> - from Waugh to John Shaw Billings with a paragraph referring to Merton and to <i>The Seven Storey Mountain</i> (or <i>Elected Silence</i> as it would be published in England)]
 1948/09/22 HLS[x]from MertonI am very glad you went ahead with the editing of the Seven Storey Molehill. Since you haveYes  
 1949/01/10 transcriptto Mitford, NancyYour letter of 4th Jan to hand. I notice it was posted at Marlborough, Wilts. The socialist  [photocopied transcript from <i>The Letters of Evelyn Waugh</i> - from Waugh to Nancy Mitford with a paragraph asking Mitford to send to Merton a copy of Ambrose Gardeil's <i>La structure de l'ame et L'expérience Mystique</i>]
 1949/02/19 TLS[x]from MertonAs far as I can judge, you must be back in America at the moment, finishing your articles for LIFE.Yes  
 1949/05/12 TLS[x]from MertonThank you very much for your last letter, written before you left New York. Since then a volumeYes  
 1949/05/27 transcriptto MertonFirst, my joy for you on your ordination. Your letter came just in time to engage my feeble prayersYes Transcript copy from the online version of the <u>Evelyn Waugh Newsletter</u>, Vol. 3, No. 1 (1969), &#8249;http://www.abbotshill.freeserve.co.uk/EWN3-1.htm&#8250;, which also appears in <i>Merton &amp; Waugh</i>.
 1949/07/30 TLS[x]from MertonThank you for your letter of May 27th. I haven't seen any sign of the Ronald Knox book which youYes  
 1949/08/28 transcriptto Merton<i>The Waters of Siloe</i> arrived this morning. A beautifully made book. I am proud to seeYes Transcript copy from the online version of the <u>Evelyn Waugh Newsletter</u>, Vol. 3, No. 1 (1969), &#8249;http://www.abbotshill.freeserve.co.uk/EWN3-1.htm&#8250;, which also appears in <i>Merton &amp; Waugh</i>.
 1949/08/29 transcriptto MertonI have now read <i>The Waters of Siloe</i> and must write to repeat my thanks for the great honourYes [photocopied transcript from <i>The Letters of Evelyn Waugh</i>, which also appears in <i>Merton &amp; Waugh</i>]
 1949/08/30 transcriptto Merton…It is extraordinarily generous of you to take my editing of <i>Waters of Siloe</i> in such goodYes Transcript copy from the online version of the <u>Evelyn Waugh Newsletter</u>, Vol. 3, No. 1 (1969), &#8249;http://www.abbotshill.freeserve.co.uk/EWN3-1.htm&#8250;.
 1949/09/17 TLS[x]from MertonThank you very much for your two letters and your very valuable advice on the two books,Yes  
 1949/10/15 TALS[x]from MertonYou will be amused to hear that your article of the <u>American Epoch in the Catholic Church</u> isYes  
 1950/01/28 TLS[x]from MertonIt is some time since I have given an account of myself. Burns sent a copy of Fowler and I am veryYes  
 1950/08/12 TLS[x]from MertonHollis and Carter have just sent me <u>Waters of Silence</u>, with your kind foreword and yourYes  
 1950/08/30 transcriptto MertonOf course you have never said anything that remotely "offended" me. How could you think so?Yes  
 1950/09/11 TALS[x]from MertonThe Stromboli note-paper literally overwhelmed me. Iam [sic] answering you at once to send myYes  
 1950/12/15 TLS[x]from MertonThis letter has two purposes: to thank you for <u>Helena</u> and to wish you a holy Christmas--Yes  
 1951/01/no? HPCSto MertonThank you vy [sic] much for your letter. Very sorry to hear of your illness. Does your libraryYes [unknown date / possibly a reply to Merton's letter of December 15, 1950 - maybe January 1951 in context of books publication and other letters] Ronald Knox's book, <i>Enthusiasm: a chapter in the history of religion, with special reference to the XVII and XVIII centuries</i>]
 1951/09/15? transcript from Waugh, Evelyn to "AF"Very many thanks for THE ASCENT TO TRUTH which reached me today, September 15th.   
 1951/12/27? transcriptto MertonI have taken an unconscionable time in thanking you for present of <i>The Ascent to Truth</i>.Yes Transcript copy from the online version of the <u>Evelyn Waugh Newsletter</u>, Vol. 3, No. 1 (1969), &#8249;http://www.abbotshill.freeserve.co.uk/EWN3-1.htm&#8250;, which also appears in <i>Merton &amp; Waugh</i>.
 1952/02/25 TLS[x]from MertonMany thanks for your very kind letter and for <u>Enthusiasm</u>. I entirely agree with your commentYes  
 1973/11/30 TL[c]from Center to Evelyn Waugh EstateMr. Victor Kramer at Georgia State University has requested permission to look at Mr. Evelyn Waugh's  permission to view Waugh's correspondence
 1991/01/07 TLS[x] from Giroux, Robert / to Christine BochenI've just found a copy of a marvelous Evelyn Waugh letter to Thomas Merton, which I enclose.  [from Robert Giroux, Merton's friend and publisher from Farrar, Straus &amp; Giroux, to Christine Bochen of Nazareth College in Rochester, New York]
 undated/no/no (#01)HNS[x]from Merton+for Evelyn Waugh [-] in Caritate Xti [-] fr. M. Louis Merton O.C.R.  [inscription in <i>Figures of an Apocalypse</i>]
 undated/no/no (#02)HNS[x]from MertonAs an expression of gratitude and I might even say veneration, for the best writer of English prose  [inscription in <i>The Waters of Siloe</i>]
 undated/no/no (#03)HNS[x]from Mertonto Evelyn Waugh - in Corde Christi - fr m Louis O.C.R.  [inscription in <i>Seeds of Contemplation</i>]
 undated/no/no (#04)HNS[x]from Mertonto Evelyn Waugh with my best wishes and prayers in Christo Domino [-] f. m. Louis Merton, O.C.S.O.  [inscription in <i>The Ascent to Truth</i>]
        

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