# Is "The Seven Storey Mountain" by Thomas Merton a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton (Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1948) is identified by: The decisive first-printing point is the imprimatur error "Ex Parte Ordnis" (for "Ex Parte Ordinis") on the verso of the third leaf, with the Nihil obstat and Imprimi potest; later printings correct it to "Ex Parte Ordinis." The first-state dust jacket carries the photo caption "...The author is second from the left" and is priced at the front flap (price present at the flap), with the back flap noting the 1948 Catholic Press Association poetry award; the photographer credit "Daniel Frances Connell" is absent from the first and second printings. US true first: Harcourt, Brace, New York, 1948 (published October 1948).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The decisive first-printing point is the imprimatur error "Ex Parte Ordnis" (for "Ex Parte Ordinis") on the verso of the third leaf, with the Nihil obstat and Imprimi potest; later printings correct it to "Ex Parte Ordinis." The first-state dust jacket carries the photo caption "...The author is second from the left" and is priced at the front flap (price present at the flap), with the back flap noting the 1948 Catholic Press Association poetry award; the photographer credit "Daniel Frances Connell" is absent from the first and second printings
- Most copies are in black cloth with black spine lettering; a limited number were bound in off-white cloth
- Confirmed against two independent sources (Thomas Merton Center and a dealer description), both citing Patricia Burton's bibliography "More Than Silence."
- Publisher imprint reads Harcourt, Brace and Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Thomas Merton |
| Publisher | Harcourt, Brace and Company |
| Year | 1948 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The decisive first-printing point is the imprimatur error "Ex Parte Ordnis" (for "Ex Parte Ordinis") on the verso of the third leaf, with… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
The decisive first-printing point is the imprimatur error "Ex Parte Ordnis" (for "Ex Parte Ordinis") on the verso of the third leaf, with the Nihil obstat and Imprimi potest; later printings correct it to "Ex Parte Ordinis." The first-state dust jacket carries the photo caption "...The author is second from the left" and is priced at the front flap (price present at the flap), with the back flap noting the 1948 Catholic Press Association poetry award; the photographer credit "Daniel Frances Connell" is absent from the first and second printings. Most copies are in black cloth with black spine lettering; a limited number were bound in off-white cloth. Confirmed against two independent sources (Thomas Merton Center and a dealer description), both citing Patricia Burton's bibliography "More Than Silence."

## Is this the true first?
US true first: Harcourt, Brace, New York, 1948 (published October 1948). The UK edition appeared the following year in an ABRIDGED text as "Elected Silence" (Hollis & Carter, London, 1949, edited by Evelyn Waugh) — a different, cut version, not the true first. Census note is correct.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The title was taken by three book clubs and reprinted heavily; book-club copies typically lack the priced first-state jacket and correct the "Ordnis" error. Beware early-2000s counterfeit white-cloth copies (unnaturally bright paper; block measures ~33×210 mm versus ~35×208 mm on authentic copies), per the Merton Center warning.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Seven Storey Mountain* by Thomas Merton a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-seven-storey-mountain
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.