In 1944, Walter M. Miller Jr. was a member of a bomber crew which participated in the destruction the 6th century Italian monastery of Monte Cassino, the oldest surviving Christian Church in the Western World and the repository of irreplaceable historic documents and art. A decade later, in the context of the Cold War, he published a short story called A Canticle for Leibowitz in the April 1955 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (MFSF). Set in the future following a devastating nuclear war, Canticle tells the story of a community of monks who over many centuries, preserve, illumine, and eventually restore the “ancient” texts to a once again civilized world. MFSF published two more short stories by Miller continuing the narrative in Aug. 1956 and Feb. 1957 and J.P. Lippincott & Co. published all three installments as a hard cover novel in 1960. The book was an immediate popular and critical success, winning the 1961 Hugo Award for best science fiction novel. It has remained in print ever since and is one of the classics of science fiction. A Canticle for Leibowitz, as it was titled in our 1955 issue of MFSF, became the section entitled “FIAT HOMO” in the 1960 novel. Condition: Some fading and yellowing, very minor abrasions, otherwise a fine, tight copy. Dimensions: 5.5" x 7.5".