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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″ x 14″. There is evidence piece was framed at one time because the board is discolored due to light except for the outermost edges . The photo is in excellent condition. 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 1964 and is signed John Howard Griffin. The reverse of the board is inscribed Property of Joe McMahon, 2520 Willing, Fort Worth, Texas. There is also a tag for hanging the image to a nail.
This is a remarkable piece of social history when one thinks of these two historic social thinkers and thier 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.
