THOMAS À KEMPIS’ CLASSIC OF CHRISTIAN MYSTICISM

THOMAS A KEMPIS. À Kempis [The Imitation of Christ]. London: Arthur L. Humphreys, 1897. Quarto, contemporary full crushed brown morocco gilt, elaborately gilt-decorated spine, raised bands, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, uncut. $1200.

Finely printed 1897 Humphreys edition of this beloved work, a lovely wide-margined volume, beautifully bound by Morrell.

The Imitation of Christ "has been the most widely read devotional manual apart from the Bible, perhaps even surpassing the influence of such books as Pilgrims Progress and St. Augustine's Confessiones… Its universal appeal is at least partly due to the great simplicity of its style and its freedom from intellectual or theological dogmatism…. The Imitation was first printed in 1473. Since then there have been thousands of editions and translations into 50 languages, a record rivaled only by the Bible itself" (PMM 13).

Interior fine, a touch of rubbing to joints, about-fine. A lovely volume.