L'Imitation de Jesus-Christ. Traduction Nouvelle. Par le Sieur Du Beuil, Prieur de Saint Val. Derniere Edition. [The Imitation of Christ, Translated into French by Louis-Isaac Lemaistre de Sacy]

Chez Jean Jouve, 1771-01-01. Leather Bound. Good. In French. 1771 Chez Jean Jouve (Avignon, France), 3 3/4 x 6 1/8 inches tall full leather bound, gilt lettering to spine, engraved printer's devices, 492 pp. Covers rubbed and edgeworn, especially to tips. Ink notations to front and rear endpapers and rear pastedown. Light, mostly marginal, soiling to title page. Some pages mildly age toned. Occasional page with light marginal soiling. Otherwise, a very good copy - clean and unmarked - of a scarce imprint of this translation into French (from Latin) of the devotional classic 'The Imitation of Christ,' credited to 'le Sieur du Beuil, Prieur de S. Val.,' a pseudonym of theologian and French humanist Louis-Isaac Lemaistre de Sacy (1613-1684), a priest of Port-Royal. ~KM4~ 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. There is probably no other book apart from the Bible which has been printed in so many editions and translations.