The Abbey of Gethsemani: Place of Peace and Paradox, 150 Years in The Life of America's Oldest Trappist Monastery Hardcover - 1998

• Title: The Abbey of Gethsemani: Place of Peace and Paradox (150 Years in the Life of America’s Oldest Trappist Monastery)

• Author: Dianne Aprile

• Publisher: Trout Lily Press (Louisville, KY)

• Publication Date: 1998 (First Edition, stated "First published in the United States in 1998")

• Format: Large clothbound hardcover with original pictorial dust jacket (unclipped flap showing original $39.95 retail price); 248 pages with extensive historical sepia and black-and-white plates.

• ISBN: 0-9642802-1-3

• Ephemera Included: Contains a laid-in gallery handout for Monastic Montage by Jim Cantrell (Bardstown Art Gallery, dated June 26, 2004).

Interesting Facts

• The Thomas Merton Connection: The Abbey of Gethsemani (founded in 1848 in Nelson County, Kentucky) gained global prominence as the home of famed monk, author, and peace activist Thomas Merton (The Seven Storey Mountain). Aprile draws heavily from Merton's personal legacy and the abbey's private archives.

• Rare Insider Access: The Trappists (Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance) maintain a cloistered, silent life. Dianne Aprile was granted unprecedented access to monastic spaces, private oral histories, and centuries-old photo archives to chronicle their sesquicentennial (1848–1998).

• Independent Regional Printing: Published by Trout Lily Press in Louisville, this large coffee-table volume was produced as a commemorative celebration rather than a mass-market run, making it a regional keepsake for collectors of Kentucky history and monastic spirituality.