I Quattro Libri di Giovanni Gerson, Cancelliere Parigino, e Dottore Moralissimo della Imitatione di Christo, del Dispregio del Mondo, e delle Sue Vanita [The Four Books of John Gerson, Chancellor of Paris, of the Imitation of Christ] by John Gerson; Thomas a Kempis

In Vinegia appresso Gabriel Giolito de Ferrari. Very Good. In Italian. 1557 Appresso Gabriel Giolito de Ferrari (Venice, Italy), 6 1/4 x 9 1/8 inches tall full vellum bound; engraved title vignette, head- and tail-pieces, initials; 12, 188 pp., complete. A rare edition of the devotional classic, 'The Imitation of Christ,' here credited to Chancellor of Paris Jean Gerson (1363-1429), and edited by Remigio Nannini, also known as Remigio Fiorentino (1518-1580), Florence priest and theologian. Rubbing, sun-fading, staining and edgewear to vellum covers, which have a couple of small wormholes and remnants of a paper label to spine. Creasing and 1-inch closed tear to edge of front free-endpaper. Moderate staining to title page. Otherwise, apart from occasional minor staining or foxing to contents, a very good copy. OCLC records only two copies worldwide - one at Bibliotheque Sainte-Genevieve in Paris and one at the University of Illinois. ~KM2~ The Imitation of Christ was written by Catholic monk Thomas Kempis (circa 1380-1471), as four separate books completed between 1420 and 1427, at Mount Saint Agnes monastery, in the town of Windesheim, located in what is now the Netherlands. He wrote these works for the instruction of novices of his Augustinian monastic order, followers of Geert Groote's Brethren of the Common Life. But the writings quickly became popular among all the literate faithful. They were copied together in one manuscript as early as 1427, by Kempis, and copied (and later printed) together fairly consistently thereafter. Soon after hand-copied versions of the Imitatio Christi initially appeared, the printing press was invented, and it was among the first books after the Bible to be printed. Jean Charlier de Gerson (1363-1429) was a French scholar, educator, reformer, poet and Chancellor of the University of Paris. Gerson was once one of the leading contenders in the academic debate over the authorship of the Imitation, now largely settled in favor of a Kempis (circa 1380-1471). There is probably no other book other than the Bible which has been printed in so many editions and translations. In the past six hundred years, the work has been translated from Kempis' medieval Latin into nearly every language in the world.