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Original Thomas Merton Photo by John Howard Griffin, Signed
Original Thomas Merton Photo by John Howard Griffin, Signed
$950.00
Original photo of Thomas Merton by his dear friend and author John Howard Griffin (author of Black Like Me). Both are celebrated authors. Thomas Merton published over seventy books predominately about spirituality, social justice and pacifism. He was a trappist monk at Our Lady of Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky.
John Howard Griffin spent his later years studying the life of his friend Thomas Merton. Thomas Merton’s estate wanted John Howard Griffin to write a posthumous biography of Merton however Griffin’s health impeded the project. Eventually Griffin’s work was published about Merton’s later years after his own death. (Wikipedia: John Howard Griffin and Thomas Merton)
The photo is mounted on board, the dimensions in inches of the board are 16″ x 20″. The photo dimensions are 10.5″ x 13.25″. The piece is in it’s original frame. The photo is in fair condition; the photo is detached from the board on the lower corners. There is some foxing on the lower left portion of the photo and on the board. The paper’s reflection in angled light indicate high silver content of the photo paper. The inscription in pencil below the photo reads Thomas Merton 1965 and is signed John Howard Griffin.
This is a remarkable piece of social history when one thinks of these two historic social thinkers and their relationship to one another. This photo successfully captures the character of Thomas Merton, but at the same time reveals a glimpse of the feeling Thomas Merton had towards his dear friend John Howard Griffin who is taking the picture.
