KEMPIS, Thomas A. and ROSWEYDE, Héribert (trans.). The Imita - Lot 219

KEMPIS, Thomas A. and ROSWEYDE, Héribert (trans.). The Imitation of Christ. Divided into four Books. A rare translation of this work, which stems from the Devotio moderna movement, illustrated with several copperplate engravings, headpieces, and tailpieces. Paris, Imprimerie Royale [Sébastien Cramoisy], 1652. In-8, fawn calfskin, ribbed spine decorated with fleurons surrounded by gilded palmettes, title label in garnet-red morocco, blue marbled edges. 17 unnumbered folios – 491 pp. – 6 unnumbered folios, 4 full-page engravings, as many end-paper illustrations, and 5 engraved initials and headbands. Scuffs, missing caps, dog-eared corners. Water stain extending to p. 33, minor foxing, and slightly browned pages. A very fine illustrated edition of this great classic of the Devotio Moderna; this French edition contains four plates and an equal number of tailpieces, as well as five headpieces and initials, all engraved on copper. This version is based on the translation by Héribert Rosweyde (1569–1629), a Belgian Jesuit. It predates the version by Pierre Corneille, which would become the most widely circulated until the 19th century. There are annotations in graphite and ink on the first leaf, and a bookplate stamped “Louis Debacq.” Charles Errard (1606–1689), a painter of the “Grand Siècle,” created the full-page compositions; two of them were executed in intaglio by Charles Audran (1594–1674), as well as by Pierre Daret (1604–1678) and Gilles Rousselet (1610–1686, here spelled “G. Roustelet”). This anonymous work is generally attributed to Thomas von Kempen (c. 1380–1471), a Dutch monk associated with the movement of modern devotion, a religious philosophy of the late Middle Ages that undeniably shaped everyday spiritual practice in the Burgundian Netherlands. It is “one of the greatest bestsellers Europe has known from the late Middle Ages to the early modern era” (Yann Sordet). A fine, rare copy. Sources: - Yann Sordet, Un succès de librairie européen : l'Imitatio Christi (1470–1850), Paris, Bibliothèque Mazarine; Editions des cendres, 2012, p. 11.