The Spirit of Zen

London: John Murray, 1958. Third edition. Small octavo (7 1/2 inches tall), original yellow cloth, original dust jacket. Near-fine book with offsetting and bookseller notation in pencil to endpapers, small circular price-sticker residue to front panel of bright price-clipped dust jacket. A near-fine copy.

"IN ZEN AS IN LIFE THERE IS NOTHING AT ALL WHICH ONE CAN HOLD ON TO AND SAY, 'THIS IS IT; I HAVE GOT IT'"

Comprehensive early edition of the first book by Alan Watts, originally published in 1936 when he was only 21 years old.

Though ordained as an Episcopalian priest in 1945, Watts devoted his life to the study of Eastern philosophies (especially Zen Buddhism) and their popularization in the West, and he left the priesthood in 1950. Part of John Murray's "Wisdom of the East" series, with a brief Editorial Note by series editor, J. L. Cranmer-Byng. Distributed in the U.S. by Grove Press, as per sticker on verso of the half-title. With Prefaces to the Third Edition ("Mill Valley, California / June, 1958"), First Edition ("Bromley, Kent / December, 1935"), and Second Edition ("San Francisco, 1954"). Also includes a Glossary and an updated Bibliography. The three different prefaces make this a comprehensive edition of an important book.