Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Contemplative
Great Mystical Book Covers

Great Mystical Book Covers

Last updated on: January 20, 2020 at 6:38 pm by Carl "Skye" McColman

Great Mystical Book Covers 2020-01-20T18:38:03-04:00 Carl "Skye" McColman

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The other day I wrote a post about a dream I had back in the 1980s. I mentioned in that post that I used to shop at an old Catholic Bookstore that used to carry the old Image Books editions of the mystics.

That was back when you could buy a mass-market paperback edition of the writings of St. John of the Cross or St. Teresa of Ávila or Julian of Norwich for just a few dollars. Ah, the glory days of exploring the literature of the Christian mystics!

I loved those old Image books, not only because they were inexpensive and easy to carry, but also because many of them had truly beautiful and distinctive cover designs.

Yes, yes, I know — “you can’t judge a book by its cover” — but whoever designed these book covers had an eye not only for interesting design, but also for finding distinctive ways to express something of the splendor and hiddenness of mysticism in a visual manner.

So for today’s post I thought I would share a few of my favorite “mystical” book covers (and what I mean by that is simply cover art for books some of the great Christian mystics). I’m including several of my favorite Image Books editions of the mystics, and I’m throwing some other interesting covers from other publishers as well.

In all fairness, some of these designs are better than others — for an obvious example, the old Dutton paperback cover of Evelyn Underhill’s Mysticism has not aged well at all! In fact, I think it’s rather garish. But there’s something about that hand-drawn rose, even surrounded by fuchsia and purple (!), that I find compelling and evocative, if not necessarily aesthetically pleasing.

I’m linking each book title to its page on Amazon — but keep in mind that most of these cover designs are 30 to 50 years old, and so if the books are still in print, they very likely have new designs.

What do you think of these book covers? Do they say “mysticism” to you? Can you think of other books that also express the beauty and silence of Christian mysticism in terms of their design?

The Fire of Love and the Mending of Life
Richard Rolle
Image Books, 1981

Revelations of Divine Love
Julian of Norwich
Image Books, 1977

The Stairway of Perfection
Walter Hilton
Image Books, 1979

The Way of Perfection
St. Teresa of Ávila
Image Books, 1964

The Interior Castle
St. Teresa of Ávila
Image Books, 1961

Ascent of Mount Carmel
St. John of the Cross
Image Books, 1958

Dark Night of the Soul
St. John of the Cross
Image Books, 1959

Spiritual Canticle
St. John of the Cross
Image Books, 1961

Living Flame of Love
St. John of the Cross
Image Books, 1962

The Cloud of Unknowing
Anonymous
Image Books, 1973

The Cloud of Unknowing
Anonymous
Image Books, 1996

Revelation of Love
Julian of Norwich
Image Books, 1996

Mysticism
Evelyn Underhill
E. P. Dutton, 1961

Practical Mysticism
Evelyn Underhill
E. P. Dutton, 1961

Centering Prayer
M. Basil Pennington
Image Books, 1982

The Seven Storey Mountain
Thomas Merton
S.P.C.K., 1999

The Book of Margery Kempe
Margery Kempe
The Folio Society, 2004

The Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism
Bernard McGinn, ed.
Modern Library, 2006

Enjoy reading this blog?
Click here to become a patron.

Previous Post

February 14, 2019

How to Find God in Your Dreams

Next Post

February 20, 2019 Nondual Christianity and the Problem of Evil

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Activism Announcements Art Books Catholicism Celtic Christianity Christian mysticism Christianity Contemplation Current events Etc. Family humor interfaith dialogue Interfaith Wisdom Interspirituality Lay Cistercians Living the Faith Meditation movies Mysticism Mystics nature Poetry Reviews Scripture silence Spirituality Uncategorized Writing

Select a Month February 2025 January 2025 November 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 March 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 August 2023 June 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 October 2013 September 2013 July 2013 May 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 March 2012 December 2011 September 2011 October 2010 August 2010 March 2010 September 2009 July 2008 January 2008 December 2007 September 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2004

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: In Revelation, the New Jerusalem has ten gates, each made of a single pearl.

Select your answer to see how you score.

FALSE TRUE

Support this
Column