“EVERYONE CALLS ME ‘HOLY FATHER,’ AND HOLY I MUST AND WILL BE”

Pope JOHN XXIII. Journal of a Soul. New York: McGraw-Hill, (1965). Octavo, publisher's three-quarter red morocco gilt, raised bands, marbled boards, top edge gilt, original acetate, original cardboard slipcase. $500.

Deluxe limited first American edition, number 36 of 500 copies, of the beloved pontiff’s journal and other writings.

Born one of 13 children of an Italian tenant farmer, Angelo Roncalli began his Vatican career as a diplomat. During World War II, as head of the Vatican's diplomatic mission in Turkey, he not only represented Catholic minorities but also worked extensively to save Jews from Nazi persecution. After the war, he became papal nuncio to France. As Pope John XXIII, elected in 1958, he exercised his widest influence, convening the Second Vatican Council in an effort to "throw open the doors of the Church and let the fresh air of the Spirit blow through." "John saw himself as a reconciler. In statement after statement he emphasized the church's significance as a suprapolitical spiritual force in the world. His greatest claim on the world's affection, however, rested on the warmth of his personality… When he died in 1963, it was generally recognized that he had become one of the best-loved men in the world" (Britannica Online). He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2000; the two pontiffs were both canonized on April 27, 2014. This volume presents John XXIII's journal, begun in 1895 while at seminary, and many other previously unpublished writings. "Indispensable for those who would understand the mind which originated the updating of the Roman Catholic Church" (New York Times, contemporary review). Illustrated with black-and-white photographic frontispiece and 44 black-and-white photographs and manuscript facsimiles. First published in Italian in 1964 as Giovanni XXIII Il Giornale Dell'Anima. Translated by Dorothy White. This edition preceded by the British edition a month earlier.

Slight toning to slipcase, closed tear to acetate, book lovely and fine.