IV. Livres de l'Imitation de Iesvs-Christ, par Thomas a Kempis, Chanoine Regulier

Anvers (Antwerp): l'Imprimerie Plantinienne, 1629. Hardcover. l'Imprimerie Plantinienne. 64mo. Full black calf with raised bands, brass clasps. 349pp. Illustration, historiated woodcut initials. Very good. Binding worn but strong; center third of spine present, while upper and lower thirds are crude but serviceable modern black calf replacements; internally tight and fully handleable. Quite intriguing near-miniature copy of this early French translation of the famed Christian devotional text "The Imitation of Christ," generally accepted as by German-Dutch cleric Kempis (c. 1380-1471) and composed in medieval Latin around 1418-27. "Traduicts en francois (truncated) du latin pris sur le manuscrit original de l'Autheur de l'an 1441," notes title page, "Avec Ja Vie du mesne Autheur Recueille par Heribert Ros-vveyde de la Compagnie de Iesvs." Heribert Rosweyde (1569-1629) was a Dutch hagiographer with the Society of Jesus whose intent was to publish a large number of saints lives based on manuscripts found in Belgian libraries; he announced this intention and listed the works in a 1607 volume published by the Plantin Press in Antwerp; none of these grand plans were published by the time of Rosweyde's death, for he was distracted by producing other religious and historical works such as this edition of "The Imitation of Christ." Publisher l'Imprimerie Plantinienne issued several editions of this title in the sixteenth century, including one in Latin edited by Rosweyde in 1617 (reissued in 1626, 1627 and 1634) and a French edition in 1642; we find no reference to a Rosweyde French edition of 1629. Rosweyde introduces this edition and offers a brief biography of Kempis at the close, while the bulk of the text consists of the four books (chapters) into which it is divided: "Helpful Counsels of the Spiritual Life," "Directives for the Interior Life," "On Interior Consolation" and "On the Blessed Sacrament." With its focus not on imitating Jesus Christ literally but rather on inner devotion and contemplation, the book became wildly popular, and hundreds of manuscript copies circulated before the advent of moveable type. The first printed edition was published in 1471-72 and before the end of the fifteenth century numerous editions had been published in eight languages. The unusual original binding, dated shortly after its 1629 publication, bears a crudely embossed large "PBB" and circular Jesuit "IHS" monogram on the front board and "1632" and this same monogram on the rear board. Surprisingly, the dual brass clasps are present and functional. (Inventory #: 50240)