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Howard W. Gunlocke (C '34) Rare Book and
Special Collections Room
April· July 2005
1.
Etching and engraving of the Teilhard
de Chardin family coat-of-arms. Pierre Teilhard de
Chardin (1881-1955) was born outside the city of Clermont-Ferrand,
in the ancient French province of Auvergne, at the
Teilhard chateau of Sarcenat. In the Clermont of the
1890s the name Teilhard was an important one, with
his father, the country squire Emmanuel Teilhard de
Chardin, being one of the largest landowners in the
province. Pierre was one of eleven children, all raised
in an atmosphere of piety and plenty. From the Lukas-Teilhard
de Chardin Collection.
Lukas-Teilhard Collection, Box 1 Folder 18.
2.
Photograph of a pastel portrait of Pierre
Teilhard de Chardin, circa 1884. From the Lukas-Teilhard
de Chardin Collection.
Lukas-Teilhard Collection, Box 3 Folder 8.
3.
Photograph of, left to right, Pierre,
Francoise, and Alberic Teilhard de Chardin, 1886. From
the Lukas-Teilhard de Chardin Collection.
Lukas-Teilhard Collection, Box 3 Folder 8.
4.
Photograph of the family of chateau of
Sarcenat, where Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was born
on May 1, 1881, the second son in the family. From
the Lukas-Teilhard de Chardin Collection.
Lukas-Teilhard Collection, Box 3 Folder 8.
5.
Photograph of Pierre (at left), with his
brothers and sisters: Olivier, Alberic, Marguerite-Marie,
Francoise (holding Joseph), and Gabriel Teilhard de
Chardin, 1894. Their mother was Berthe Adele de Dompierre
d’Hornoy, from a well-connected family in Picardy
and a great-granddaughter of Voltaire’s sister.
She created for her children a closed Pascalian world,
so somber, strict and pious that acquaintances referred
to it as “la Grande Grille.” From the Lukas-Teilhard
de Chardin Collection.
Lukas-Teilhard Collection, Box 3 Folder 8.
6.
Photograph of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
as a Jesuit novice at Aix in 1899. From the Lukas-Teilhard
de Chardin Collection.
Lukas-Teilhard Collection, Box 2 Folder 22.
7.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Letters from
Egypt 1905-1908. Herder and Herder (1965). First English
edition.
After finishing the novitiate in 1900, he was at Laval
for two years of advanced classical studies and from
1902 to 1905 he did three years of philosophy on the
Isle of Jersey. In the Summer of 1905 Teilhard received
his appointment from the Jesuits to teach, at the Holy
Family school in Cairo, physics and chemistry.
Woodstock Theological Library, Call number 191 T233,
LE4.
8.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Letters from
Hastings 1908-1912. New York: Herder and Herder (1968).
First English edition.
From 1908 to 1912 Teilhard was in Sussex, England,
at the Jesuit school at Ore Place, near the town of Hastings.
Following the normal course of studies to become a Jesuit
priest, he devoted himself to theology and was ordained
to the priesthood on August 29, 1911, in the presence
of his parents. It was during a walk along the outskirts
of Hastings in May of 1909 that he met the amateur geologist
Charles Dawson. The two became friends and in May of
1912 Teilhard accompanied Dawson for the first time to
the area of Piltdown, near Uckfield. It was there that
Teilhard found an elephant molar: “This first elephant
tooth made me feel like a hunter after his first catch.”
Woodstock Theological Library, Call number 191 T233,
LH4.
9.
Photograph of Teilhard (at right) with
paleontologist friends digging in the Cro-Magnon caves
of Spain in 1913. From the Lucile Swan Papers.
Lucile Swan Papers, Box 6 Folder 13.
10.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Letters from
Paris 1912-1914. New York: Herder and Herder (1967).
First English edition.
It was during this period that Teilhard made great strides in theology. For
four consecutive years he was chosen to take part in one of the “solemn
disputes” of the year. The first time was in order to attack his professor’s
theses: the other three times he had to defend them. Here he proved to be a
capable and practical theologian. In one letter he writes: “Time spent
at theology has the advantage of making ideas mature well.” His spiritual
life is also revealed in these letters to his parents.
Woodstock Theological Library, Call number 191 T233,
LH5.
11-13.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre; Bernard and
Barbara Wall, translators. Typed manuscript (Teilhard’s
World War I journal), with manuscript corrections by
the Walls and an autograph statement by Bernard. From
the Bernard and Barbara Wall papers. With a photograph
of Teilhard, circa 1918. From the America Archives.
When World War I broke out, Teilhard was on a mountain
climbing trip. In September of 1914 Teilhard’s
Jesuit superiors decided it would be good for him to
go to a Jesuit house in England to begin his tertianship.
Two months later his brother Gonzague was killed in battle,
and his own order to report for duty came. He was attached
as a stretcher-bearer to a colonial regiment of North
African Zouaves and saw action in the Marne before the
end of the first year. Then the Zouaves were moved to
Ypres in Belgium, where the Germans had used poison gas.
later they battled the Germans at Artois, winning, but
losing half the Zouaves. In November of 1915 he had his
first leave. In May of 1916 the Zouaves were ordered
to Verdun. In a lull in the fighting Teilhard began to
keep this diary and started putting down his “passionate
vision of the earth.”
Barbara and Bernard Wall Papers, unprocessed collection.
America Magazine Archives, Box 42 Folder
9.
14.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Typed manuscript, “La
Paleontologie et l’Apparition de l’Homme”,
5 pages, published in the January 1923 issue of Revue
de philosophie. From the Teilhard - de Margerie Collection,
gift of Diane de Margerie through the auspices of Solange
Soulie.
Teilhard - de Margerie Collection
15.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Mimeograph, “La Messe
sur le Monde”, Ordos, 1923. Given by Teilhard to
Marie Therese Dubalen, gift of Nancy Corson Carter.
In 1923 Teilhard took part in a French palaeontological
mission in China in the Ordos country directed by Pere
Licent. As Teilhard wrote the same year to Leontine Zanta: “When
I am traveling by mule, for days on end, I say to myself,
as I used to do, the ‘Mass on the World’ that
you know, and I believe I say it now with more clearness
of mind and conviction even than before.”
Teilhard - Dubalen Collection, Box 1 Folder 10.
16.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Typed letter
signed, 30 August 1924, two pages, to Roy Chapman Andrews.
From the Granger - Teilhard de Chardin Collection.
Andrews (1884-1960) was an American naturalist, explorer,
and writer on the staff of the Museum of Natural history
in New York (1906-1941) and its director (1935-1941).
He headed the Mongolian Expedition on which Teilhard
served as a geologist and a paleontologist. Teilhard
became very fond of him.
Granger - Teilhard Collection, Box 1 Folder 1.
17.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Typed manuscript, “Le
Milieu Divin”, Tientsin, November 1926-March 1927.
As Teilhard wrote to Claude Aragonnes on November 7th,
1926: “I have settled down to the little book I
plan. I want to write it slowly, quietly - living it
and meditating on it like a prayer.” From the Cosme-Teilhard
de Chardin Collection, gift of Marie-Therese Cosme.
Teilhard - Cosme Collection.
18.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Mimeograph, “Le Milieu
Divin” Tientsin, November 1926-March 1927. With
a possible inscription from the author to his close Jesuit
friend, the French biologist Pierre Leroy, S.J. (1900-1992).
Leroy lived with Teilhard during the Japanese occupation.
From the Pierre Leroy, S.J. Papers, gift of Pere Leroy.
Pierre Leroy Papers, Box 3 Folder 7.
19.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. “Fossil Men in China
and Mongolia: Late Palaeolithic predecessors of Chinese
civilization”, in Natural History: Journal of the
American Museum of Natural History, Volume XXVI, No.
3, May -June 1926 issue. From the Pierre Leroy, S.J.
Papers, gift of Pere Leroy.
Pierre Leroy Papers, Box 2 Folder 28.
20.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. A Map of
the Younger Eruptive Rocks in China. Nanking: Bulletin
of the Geological Survey of China (1928?).
Teilhard writes that here is: “for the first
time, a general Map of the Eruptive Rocks of China (Palaeozoic
and later), classified according to their geological
age.” From the Pierre Leroy, S.J. Papers, gift
of Pere Leroy.
Pierre Leroy Papers, Box 3 Folder 6.
21.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre et al. Le
Paleolithique de la Chine. Paris: Masson et Cie Editeurs,
1928. Tipped into the volume is a typed letter signed
by Emile Licent, S.J. (1876-1952), written from Tientsin,
December 1928, to Pierre Marcellin Boule (1861-1942),
French paleontologist and professor at the Musee National
d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris. From the Pierre
Leroy, S.J. Papers, gift of Pere Leroy.
Pierre Leroy Papers, Box 3 Folder 5.
22.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Autograph
letter signed, 16 July 1929, to unidentified friends.
The letter of Albert, of June 2, arrived here to the
western end of Shansi, province without bandits or famine
where I have lived for one month.
23.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Autograph
letter signed, 20 April 1931, to Walter Granger. From
the Granger-Teilhard de Chardin Collection.
Walter Granger, an American paleontologist, was a specialist
in Mongolian studies and a member of the Roy Chapman
Andrews expedition in the Gobi Desert. In this letter
Teilhard comments:
...I am still in Peiping. The Citroen tractors got
some trouble (the rubber of the caterpillars bands has
been sun-burnt during the journey by Suez, on the boat,
and breaks out. The expedition is waiting for new rubber-bands
- I wonder where we are going to start really...
In May Teilhard would join Citroen’s “La
Croisiere Jaune” expedition. since 1929 Andre Citroen
and his factory-manager had been preparing an expedition
into Central Asia. They hoped to rediscover the ancient ‘silk
road’ and at the same time demonstrate the qualities
of the Citroen equipment.
Teilhard-Granger Collection, Box 1 Folder 3.
24.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Mimeograph, “L’Esprit
de la Terre”, Pacifique, 9 March 1931. With the
signature of Pierre Leroy, S.J. From the Pierre Leroy,
S.J. Papers, gift of Pere Leroy.
Teilhard was now just fifty and while waiting to set
out, wrote this work. In it he comments:
With the support of what religion and science have
been teaching me for the last fifty years, I have tried
in this to make my way out into the open. I wanted to
clear of the fog and see things as they really are...And
the first thing I saw was that only man can be of any
use to man in reading the secret of the world.
Pierre Leroy Papers, Box 2 Folder 25.
25.
Calling card belonging to Pierre Teilhard
de Chardin as honorary adviser to the Chinese Geological
Survey, Tientsin.
Lucile Swan Papers, Box 5 Folder 7.
26.
Photograph of Teilhard (on the right)
and Lt. Commander Point in Dr. Delastre’s tent
in the Urumchi, 7 August 1931.
Lukas-Teilhard Collection, Box 2 Folder 22.
27.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Typed letter
signed, 3 pages, 15 April 1932, to Walter Granger.
From the Granger-Teilhard de Chardin Collection.
Writing about discoveries in the Gobi Desert and drawings
a schematic for various sediments in Eastern China.
Teilhard-Granger Collection, Box 1 Folder 6.
27.5
Societe de Geographie Physique. Revue
de Geographie Physique et de Geologie Dynamique, 1932.
Reprint of Teilhard’s published paper from the
Citroen Expedition. Gift of James W. Skehan, S.J.
28.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Autograph
letter signed, one page, 23 January 1933, to Lucile
Swan. From the Lucile Swan Papers.
In the Autumn of 1929 Teilhard met at a dinner party
in Peking, the American sculptor Lucile Swan (1890-1965).
This meeting began a remarkable friendship that lasted
for twenty-five years and is recorded in the correspondence
of more than 200 letters by Teilhard , the originals
at Georgetown. In this letter from Paris Teilhard writes
of his leaving France the next month, and coming back
to China. Mentions that he met Davidson Black and Mrs.
Black in London the previous month. Black (1885-1934)
was a Canadian scientist and head of the anatomy department
at Peking Union Medical College.
Lucile Swan Papers, Box 1 Folder 3.
29.
Photograph of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin,
circa 1934. From the Lucile Swan Papers.
Lucile Swan Papers, Box 6 Folder 15.
30.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Mimeograph, “Comment
je crois”, Peking, 28 October 1934. Given by Teilhard
to his friend, Marie Therese Dubalen, gift of Nancy Corson
Carter.
Pierre Leroy Papers, Box 2 Folder 22.
31.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Typed letter
signed, 2 pages, 5 March 1934, to Walter Granger. From
the Granger-Teilhard de Chardin Collection.
Mentioning Teilhard’s new edition of his findings
on Teng Gur (China) and information about his friend,
the American paleontologist George Barbour, with whom
he worked on various expeditions from 1929 to 1953. Shown
is Teilhard’s study of an animal tooth found in
a baboon pit.
Teilhard-Granger Collection, Box 1 Folder 10.
32.
Photograph of Teilhard (on the left) and
the Abbe Breuil at the Ming Tombs, 7 April 1935. On
the verso Teilhard writes “by Pei”. Wen-Chung
Pei was a Chinese paleontologist and a student of Abbe
Henri Breuil (1877-1961), French priest and noted authority
on paleolithic art. Pei discovered the first “Peking
Man” skulls at the Dragons’ Mountain in
1929. From the Lucile Swan Papes.
Lucile Swan Papers, Box 6 Folder 1.
33.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Typed letter
signed, 8 August 1936, to Walter Granger. From the
Granger-Teilhard de Chardin Collection.
Discussing excavations and discoveries, including “two
more pieces of Sinanthropus skull [Peking Man] (small
but interesting) ... (and two teeth also) ...”
Teilhard-Granger Collection, Box 1 Folder 14.
34.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. A Personalistic
Universe. Peiping, 1937. First English edition.
Lauinger Library Special Collections, Call number 88VA2.
35.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Autograph
letter signed, 12 September 1938, to Lucile Swan. From
the Lucile Swan Papers.
Writing about the activities of friends, “[Pierre
Leroy], up to Tokyo!”, and hoping himself “to
have time to see the [Joseph] Grews in Tokyo.” Joseph
C. Grew was the American ambassador to Japan from 1932
to 1941. The papers of his son-in-law, diplomat Cecil
B. Lyon, also a Teilhard friend, are in the Special Collections
Division.
Lucile Swan Papers, Box 1 Folder 104.
36.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Autograph
letter signed, two pages, 17 July 1940, to Lucile Swan.
From the Lucile Swan Papers.
Writing from Peking of various changes and ending with
the philosophical statement:
You are right when warning me not to accept to get “old”.
As you know, the year was not specially good physically
for me; and probably also I lack a definite object of
work or conquest ahead. Not so much a “right” as
an incentive to live.
Lucile Swan Papers, Box 1 Folder 121.
37.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. The Granitisation
of China. Publications de l'institut de géo-biologie
(1940).
Lauinger Library Special Collections, Call number 99A7.
38.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Autograph
letter signed, two pages, 8 August 1941, to Lucile Swan.
From the Lucile Swan Papers.
Bidding Lucile farewell as she returns to America.
With it he encloses:
...a copy of the only “pious” object left,
since years, on my working table. Hope you will not think
it too “roman-catholic”. For me this quite
simple illustration is a vague representation of the
universal “foyer” of attraction which we
are aiming for. In this atmosphere we can always love
each other more and better.
Lucile Swan Papers, Box 2 Folder 1.
39.
Holy card belonging to Pierre Teilhard
de Chardin. From the collection of Rev. Thomas M. King,
S.J.
40.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Reflexions
sur le Progres. Peking, 1942. First edition, 1 of 250
copies. With a presentation inscription to Mme. Henri
Cosme. From the Cosme-Teilhard de Chardin Collection,
gift of Marie-Therese Cosme.
41.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Early Man
in China. Publications de l'institut de géo-biologie
(1941).
Lauinger Library Special Collections, Call number 99A13.
42.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Fossil men,
recent discoveries and present problem : a lecture
given on the 26 of March, 1943, at the Catholic University
of Peking. Peking (1943).
Lauinger Library Special Collections, Call number 99A17.
43.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Autograph
letter signed, four pages, 8 August 1944, to Henri
and Mme. Cosme. From the Cosme-Teilhard Collection,
gift of Marie-Therese Cosme.
Henri Cosme was the French Minister to China in the
1930s.
44.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre and Pei Weng-Chung.
Le néolithique de la Chine. Peking : Institut
de géobiologie (1944).
Lauinger Library Special Collections, Call number 99A17.
45.
Photograph of Teilhard (standing at left)
with friends, including Wen-Chung Pei (sitting in the
center), the coauthor of the above work, circa 1944.
From the Lucile Swan Papers.
Lucile Swan Papers, Box 6 Folder 10.
46.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Autograph
letter signed, one page, 23 September 1946, to Mme.
Francoise Raphael. From the Raphael-Teilhard de Chardin
Collection, gift of Mme. Raphael.
Paul Raphael was the director of the Banque-Chinoise
in Peking during the 1930s. Both he and his wife stayed
in China during the Japanese occupation. In this letter
from Paris Teilhard writes about friends and activities
there, including a dinner he had with Julian Huxley.
Raphael-Teilhard Collection, Box 1 Folder 14.
47.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Mimeograph, “Le phenomene
humain”, Rome, 28 October 1948, with a presentation
inscription on the cover to Pierre Leroy, S.J. From the
Pierre Leroy, S.J. Papers.
Starting in May of 1938 Teilhard began drafting The
Phenomenon of Man. He wrote to his brother Joseph in
August of that same year:
I am working steadily on the first chapter of The Phenomenon
of Man, a page or two a day. For the last ten months
I have been thinking about it a great deal and it seemed
to me that plan and inspiration had reached maturity.
So far I have come up against no ‘fault’ as
it develops.
Rome thought differently and in September of 1947 it
forbade Teilhard to publish anything involving philosophy
or theology. “All this isn’t making life
any brighter” he wrote to Abbe Breuil.
Pierre Leroy Papers, Box 3 Folder 10.
48.
Photograph of Teilhard, circa 1945. From
the Lucile Swan Papers.
Lucile Swan Papers, Box 6 Folder 15.
49.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Mimeograph, “Le Coeur
du Probleme”, Les Moulins, 8 September 1949. With
a presentation inscription to Roland de Margerie, the
French Ambassador in Peking, marked “Semi-confidential”.
From the Teilhard-de Margerie Collection, gift of Diane
de Margerie through the auspices of Solange Soulie.
Every summer Teilhard went for a rest to the home of
his brother, Joseph, at the Chateau of Les Moulins, Neuville,
Puy-de-Dome, France, where he made his annual retreat.
This among other works was written there.
49.5
Terra, Rhoda de. Photograph album, 1930s-1950s,
with many unpublished snapshots of Teilhard. Gift of
Joyce Lussier.
Helmut de Terra was a geologist and explorer in Tibet,
Central Asia, Burma, India and Java as well as a professor
at Columbia University in New York. His wife became one
of Teilhard’s closest friends and as Rhoda Hoff
wrote the novel, The Silver Answer (1945), a fictionalized
account of her relationship with Teilhard.
50.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Autograph
letter signed, 9 May 1950, two pages, to Lucile Swan.
From the Lucile Swan Papers.
Telling Lucile of lack of news from Rome: “...as
far as I am concerned, nothing much new. I am still waiting
(after four weeks) the answer of Rome to my proposed
corrections. Is that a bad or a good omen? Impossible
to say. In the meantime I am...a candidature to the French
Academie des Sciences...I was thrown accidently in the
affair...”
Lucile Swan Papers, Box 2 Folder 59.
51.
Photograph of Teilhard taken following
his reception into the French Academy of Sciences in
May of 1950. From the Lukas-Teilhard de Chardin Collection,
gift of Mary and Ellen Lukas.
Lukas-Teilhard Collection, Box 3 Folder 9.
52.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Mimeograph, “Le Coeur
de la Matiere”, Les Moulins, 15 August 1950, with
a presentation inscription to Mme. de Margerie. From
the Teilhard-de Margerie Collection, gift of Diana de
Margerie, through the auspices of Solange Soulie.
53.
Swan, Lucile. Bronze bust of Pierre Teilhard
de Chardin. Borrowed from Rev. Thomas M. King, S.J.
54.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. “Australopitheques,
Pithecanthropes et Structure Phyletique des Hominiens” ,
21 January 1952. Reprint of a lecture delivered at the
Academie des Sciences, Institut de France. From the Pierre
Leroy, S.J. Papers, gift of Pere Leroy.
Pierre Leroy Papers, Box 2 Folder 19.
55.
Photograph of Teilhard on a visit to Crater
Lake in Oregon, 1952. From the Lukas-Teilhard de Chardin
Collection.
Lukas-Teilhard Collection, Box 1 Folder 2.
56.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Typed letter
signed, one page, 31 October 1952, to Mme. Houdin.
From the Teilhard-Houdin Collection, gift of Pierre
Leroy, S.J.
Giving Mme. Houdin news of New York City where he had
gone to live and work as a “research associate” at
the Wenner-Gren Foundation.
Teilhard-Houdin Collection, Box 1 Folder 8.
57.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Autograph
letter signed, two pages, 7 September 1953, to Mme.
Houdin. From the Teilhard-Houdin Collection, gift of
Pierre Leroy, S.J.
Teilhard-Houdin Collection, Box 1 Folder 14.
58.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. “L’Afrique et
les Origines Humaines.” , 20 January, 1955. Reprinted
essay. From the Pierre Leroy, S.J. Papers, gift of Pere
Leroy.
Pierre Leroy Papers, Box 2 Folder 17.
59.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Autograph
letter signed, one pages, 30 March 1955, to Lucile Swan.
From the Lucile Swan Papers.
Less than a month before his death Teilhard writes
this affectionate letter to his dear friend and correspondent,
Lucile Swan. This would be his final letter to her. Lucile
was among the small group of mourners who attended the
Mass at St. Ignatius in New York.
Lucile Swan Papers, Box 2 Folder 97.
60.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Autograph
letter signed, two pages, 4 April 1955, to Pierre Leroy,
S.J. From the Pierre Leroy, S.J. Papers, gift of Pere
Leroy.
Less than a week before his death, Teilhard writes
of his plans and his hope to go to California in September.
He relates his continuing troubles with Rome:
Would you believe that Rome:
1) will not give me permission to go to Pris for the paleontological symposium
at the Sorbonne in April 1955 to which I was invited...It’s curious...that
I feel absolutely untroubled; on the contrary, I am encouraged or at least
excited by these obstacles. Resistance of this kind strengthens me...
Teilhard died on Easter Day, April 10th, 1955. Pere
Leroy was in Chicago and later wrote that he “did
not see him until Easter Monday. His body was laid in
the private chapel of the Jesuit Fathers of St. Ignatius
High School. He was dressed in violet vestments, his
hand crossed on a rosary and crucifix, and his face a
little sunken, he lay in the silence of death. ...I had
lost an incomparable friend, the world and the Church
had lost an uncommon mind which, through many troubles
and misunderstandings, had tried to extend to humanity
a message of hope.”
Pierre Leroy Papers, Box 1 Folder 98.
61.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Le Phenomene
Humain. Paris: Editions du Seuil (1955).
In 1951 Teilhard gave thought to the manuscripts that
were the great work of his life. What would become of
them after his death? He realized that if they were to
become the property of the Society of Jesus, they then
might be buried in its archives for years, untouched.
They challenged the then current thoughts about God,
man and the universe. A solution was suggested that his
papers might be left to a lay person and Mlle. Jeanne
Mortier was the obvious choice. She had devotedly curated
his archive for many years and Teilhard appointed her
his literary executrix.
Following Teilhard’s death Mlle. Mortier founded
a committee of Teilhard’s family members, friends
and colleagues, to arrange for the publication of his
writings. Le Phenomene Humain was the first in the series
and became a bestseller, appearing in both England and
America in 1959.
62.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Divine Milieu.
New York: Harper and Row (1960). First American edition.
63.
Merton, Thomas. Typed manuscript, with
holograph corrections, “The Universe as Epiphany”,
11 pages, 1960. From the Edward Rice Papers.
Perhaps published in Jubilee, this article is a study
of the Divine Milieu which had just been published in
America. Merton, the famous American monk and author,
writes that the work is “not controversial to the
same degree as the Phenomenon of Man, though it is sufficiently
vital and independent in its thought to trouble minds
that fear the very shadow of originality as somehow ‘dangerous’.” Edward
Rice was Merton’s godfather and his close friend
since college, and his archives include scores of Merton’s
letters.
64.
Barbour, George B. In the Field with Teilhard
de Chardin. New York: Herder and Herder (1965). First
American edition.
As Teilhard’s posthumous fame grew, friends began
to publish memoirs about him. Here are the recollections
of George Barbour, an American paleontologist who taught
at Yenching University in Peking and worked with Teilhard
on various expeditions from 1929 to 1953. His impressive
Teilhard archives are in the Woodstock Theological Library
on the lower level of Lauinger Library.
65.
Mortier, Jeanne and Marie-Louise Aboux.
Teilhard de Chardin Album. New York: Harper & Row
(1966). First American edition.
A splendid array of photographs, text and related materials,
documenting Teilhard’s remarkable life, drawn from
his archives in the Fondation Teilhard de Chardin in
Paris.
66.
Speaight, Robert. The Life of Teilhard
de Chardin. New York: Harper & Row (1967). First
American edition.
One of the early Teilhard biographies in English was
this one done by the noted British Catholic author and
actor, Robert Speaight, friend of Evelyn Waugh.
67.
Jennings, Elizabeth. Autograph manuscript
poetry notebook, late 1973, shown is the text of her
poem “Teilhard de Chardin”. From the Elizabeth
Jennings Papers.
A noted English poet, Elizabeth Jennings, attended
St. Anne’s College, Oxford, and became close friends
with Philip Larkin and Kingley Amis. In his anthology
Oxford Poetry, Amis described her as “the star
of our show, our discovery.” She won numerous prizes
and was appointed CBE in 1993, but as a poet rarely strayed
from familiar themes such as religion, children, old
age, art, love and death. She was born and remained a
life-long Catholic.
Elizabeth Jennings Papers, Box 1 Folder 7.
68.
Lynch, William F., et al. “In Admiration of Teilhard
April 10, 1955.” America, April 12, 1975.
A special issue of America, an American journal run
by the Jesuits. This one is devoted to Pierre Teilhard
de Chardin on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of
his death. The issue’s editorial is called “The
Teilhardian Phenomenon After 20 Years.”
69.
Lukas, Mary and Ellen Lukas. Teilhard.
New York: Doubleday and Company, 1977. First edition.
One of the most thorough of Teilhard biographies in
English. Their extensive collection of research materials
on Teilhard was given to the Special Collections Division
by the Lukas sisters. It is still a valuable resource
for the Teilhard scholar.
70.
“
R.P. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.” A stamp was issued
by the French government on the occasion of Teilhard’s
centennial. From the Pierre Leroy, S.J. Papers, gift
of Pere Leroy.
Pierre Leroy Papers, Box 2 Folder 4.
71.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. The Letters
of Teilhard de Chardin and Lucile Swan. Washington, D.C.:
Georgetown University Press (1993). First edition.
Edited by Mary Wood Gilbert, niece of Lucile Swan,
and Rev. Thomas M. King, S.J., author of books on Teilhard
and Professor of Theology at Georgetown University. This
volume is composed of the texts of some 200 letters from
Teilhard to Swan, the originals within the Special Collections
Division. They offer new insight into the life of one
of the most fascinating spiritual and intellectual figures
of the last century. A second edition of the work is
available from the University of Scranton University
Press.
72.
King, Ursula. Spirit of Fire: The Life
and Vision of Teilhard de Chardin. Maryknoll: Orbis
Books (2000).
Ursula King is the Professor of Theology and Religious
Studies at the University of Bristol, England. This is
one of her many books exploring the thought and spirituality
of Teilhard de Chardin and how he speaks to the concerns
of our time.
73.
Fabel, Arthur and Donald St. John, eds.
Teilhard in the 21st Century: The Emerging Spirit of
Earth. Mayknoll: Orbis Books (2003). First edition.
With articles by a variety of Teilhard authorities,
including Thomas M. King, S.J. and Ursula King.
74.
King, Thomas M., S.J. Teilhard’s Mass: Approaches
to “The Mass on the World.” New York: Paulist
Press (2005). First edition.
“The Mass on the World” is a lengthy poem by Teilhard, rich with
imagery and passion, and remains Teilhard’s most popular essay. In this
work Father King explores the heart and mind of Teilhard and reveals how a Christian
can transform one’s life and death into an all-embracing Mass on the Altar
of the World.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955)
The extensive collection about Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
at the Georgetown University Library, the largest and
most important holding outside of his archive in Paris,
and the related collections about Pierre Leroy, S.J.,
his close Jesuit friend and noted biologist, is the loyal
and hard work of mainly three people: Rev. Thomas M.
King, S.J., Teilhard scholar and distinguished theologian
at Georgetown University; Mrs. Janetta Warre, kind benefactor
and organizer of the Teilhard centenary exhibition in
Westminster Abbey, London, in 1983; and the late Madame
Soulange Soulie, good friend of Pierre Leroy, S.J. and
diligent searcher of French materials on Teilhard for
Georgetown.
Teilhard’s closest friend was Pierre Leroy, S.J.
the noted biologist and director of the Tientisin Museum
of Natural History and the Institut de Geobiologie. The
two lived together in Peking during the time of the Japanese
occupation.
75.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre and Pierre
Leroy. Les Felides de Chine. Peking: Institut de Geobiologie.
Lauinger Library Special Collections, Call number 99A18.
76.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Typed letter
signed, 1 page, 17 February 1952, to Pierre Leroy.
From the Pierre Leroy Papers, gift of Pere Leroy.
Teilhard writes of his recent visit, “I just
got back from Washington (Georgetown University), where
I was charmingly received – especially by the rector
who once worked on a kind of thesis at the Sorbonne while
living on the Rue Raynouard and by Father Walsh (Edmund),
the missus dominicus of Russia and Japan...” and
later in the letter remarks, “The sky was clear
and blue over the still-dark trees of the Potomac which
will soon burst into bloom. This outing did me considerable
good...” (translation by Mary Lukas).
Pierre Leroy Papers, Box 1 Folder 56.
77.
Leroy, Pierre. Letters From My Friend
Teilhard de Chardin, 1948-1955. Originally published
in 1976, English translation and new matter published
in 1980 by Mary Lukas.
78.
Leroy, Pierre. L’Homme Reconcilie avec ses Origines
et sa Destinee. France: 1986. From the Pierre Leroy Papers,
gift of Pere Leroy.
Pierre Leroy Papers, Box 2 Folder 11.
79.
Leroy, Pierre. Un Esprit Genial et une
Ame Mystique le Pere Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. From
the Cosme-Teilhard de Chardin Collection, gift of Marie-Therese
Cosme.
80.
Leroy, Pierre. “Teilhard As I Knew Him.” Printed
in The Teilhard de Chardin Centenary Exhibition Catalog,
1983.
81.
Leroy, Pierre. Autograph letter signed,
12 May 1982, to Janetta Warre.
The letter is regarding Teilhard’s quote, “L’age
des nations est passe...” and contains references
to Georgetown University, Rev. Thomas King, S.J., and
Joseph E. Jeffs, Georgetown University Librarian. From
the Leroy-Warre Collection, gift of Janetta Warre.
Leroy-Warre Collection, Box 1 Folder 1.
82.
Leroy, Pierre. Autograph letter signed,
3 September 1976, to Constantin Kluge.
The letter includes reference to Claude Riviere and
to Kluge’s proposed autobiography. Kluge met Pierre
Leroy in Shanghai while attending a lecture by Teilhard,
their mutual friend. Riviere, director of the French
radio station in Shanghai, was also a friend of Teilhard.
From the Constantin Kluge-Pierre Leroy Collection, gift
of Constantin Kluge.
Constantin Kluge-Pierre Leroy Collection, Box 1 Folder
1.
83.
Leroy, Pierre. Autograph letter signed,
18 November 1990, to Leo Zonneveld.
The letter contains Father Leroy’s positive response
to Zonneveld’s request for his contribution to
the International Teilhard Compendium (published as “The
Desire to be Human” in 1983). Gift of Dr. Zonneveld.
Upon
the death of Teilhard in 1955, Mlle.
Jeanne-Marie Mortier together with Teilhard’s family,
friends and colleagues set up a committee to arrange
publication of his writings, so began
the Association des Amis de
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.
84.
Program for the Celebration du centenaire
de la naissance de P. Teilhard de Chardin which took
place September 4,5,6, & 7, 1981 at Orcines. The
event was organized by the Association des Amis de
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. From the Leroy-Warre Collection,
gift of Janetta Warre.
Leroy-Warre Collection, Box 3 Folder 167.
85.
Journal published by the Association des
Amis de P. Teilhard de Chardin, Summer 1988 edition.
From the Thomas M. King Papers, gift of Father King.
86.
Printed card in remembrance of Jeanne-Marie
Mortier upon her death on October 8, 1982 from La Foundation
Teilhard de Chardin and L’Association des Amis
de P. Teilhard de Chardin. From the Pierre-Warre Collection,
gift of Janetta Warre.
Leroy-Warre Collection, Box 3 Folder 163.
By 1964 another Teilhard association had been founded:
The Pierre Teilhard de Chardin Association of Great Britain
and Ireland based in London. In 1970 the association
changed its name to The Teilhard Centre for the Future
of Man.
87.
Constitution of The Pierre Teilhard de
Chardin Association of Great Britain and Ireland, originally
adopted in 1966 and including amendments adopted up
to 1969. From the Lady Bronwen Astor Papers, gift of
Lady Bronwen Astor.
Lady Bronwen Astor Papers, Box 1 Folder 17.
88.
The Teilhard Review, issues October 1972
and June 1972 (back cover including a list of the speakers
at the Seventh Annual Conference). Beginning in 1966,
The Teilhard Review was published by The Pierre Teilhard
de Chardin Association of Great Britain and Ireland,
and after 1970 by The Teilhard Centre for the Future
of Man. From the Robert T. Francoeur Papers, gift of
Mr. Francoeur.
Robert T. Francoeur Papers, Box 2 Folder 4.
The American Teilhard de Chardin Association began as a small, informal group
in 1962. The association expanded and became Incorporated in 1967.
89.
Notice of Meeting of the American Teilhard
de Chardin Association, Incorporated distributed by
Secretary Minna Cassard whom Winifred McCulloch described
in his Short History as a devoted High Church Episcopalian
with a sense of style and worldly values who gave the
association “a working structure without which
it could not have survived.”
90.
Newsletter, dated December 1969, mentions
the Teilhard Library-Center and also the bronze head
of Teilhard done by sculptress Malvina Hoffman, which
is now on display in Woodstock Theological Library,
Georgetown University. From the Lady Bronwen Astor
Papers.
Lady Bronwen Astor Papers, Box 1 Folder 9.
91.
McCullock, Winifred. A Short History of
the American Teilhard Association, published in 1979.
McCullock, an active member of the association, served
as Secretary and Vice-President in addition to helping
to run the Teilhard Center and editing the newsletter.
Lauinger Library, Call number B2430.T373 A5 1979.
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