A new history of ecclesiastical writers containing an account of the authors of the several books of the Old and New Testament, of the lives and writings of the primitive fathers, an abridgement and catalogue of their works ... also a compendious history of the councils, with chronological tables of the whole / written in French by Lewis Ellies du Pin.

SECTION IV.

The Editions of the Book of the Imitation of Jesus Christ under the Name of Thomas a Kempis.

'TIS true, the First Edition which is alledg'd with a Date of the Imitation of Jesus Christ under the Name of Thomas a Kempis, is in 1475. tho' the Copy of it is never produc'd; but then 'tis said that there is one in the Library of the Republick of Ausburg, Cod. 32. of Theo∣logical Books, wherein the 4 Books of the Imitation are printed in Folio, without a Date indeed, but at the end there is found this Note, Viri Egregii Thomae Montis Sanctae Agnetis in Trajecto Re∣gularis Canonici, Libri de Christi Imitatione numero quatuor finiunt feliciter, per Zanitherum Zainer ex Rentlingen progenitum, literis impressi aheneis: i. e. Here end the 4 Books of the Imi∣tation of Jesus Christ, by that Excellent man Thomas a Canon Regular of Mount St. Agnes of Utrecht, printed in Letters of Brass by Gonther Zainer, a Native of Rentlingen; Zainer died April the 14th, in 1475. as is prov'd by the Burial-Book of the Canons Regular of the Holy-Cross of Ausburg, and therefore this Edition must be more ancient than the former. There is an Edition of the Mirror of Human Life by Roderic of Zamora, printed in 1471. by Zainer. And lastly it is observ'd upon the Copy whereof we are now speaking, that it was bought by the Convent of Friars Carmelites of Ausburg. Supposing the truth of these matters of Fact, it cannot be deny'd but the Books of the Imitation were printed under the Name of Thomas a Kempis, a little time after his Death.

The Second Edition which is alledg'd is that of Strasburg, in 1487. 'Tis said that it was in the Library of Prague; and Heserus relates that he found it at Ausburg, in the Library of the

Canons Regular of St. George. It begins thus; Incipit Liber p••imus fratris Thomae de Kempis, Canonici Regularis, Ordinis St. Augustini, de Imitatione Christi, & de contemptu omnium vanitatum Mundi, Capitulum primum. Qui sequitur me, &c. and at the end, Fratris Thomae de Kempis de Imitatione Christi, & de contemptu omnium vanitatum Mundi, devotum & utile Opusculum fi••it fe∣liciter, Argentinae impressum, per Martinum Flach, Anno Dom. 1487.

There is also alledg'd another Edition in the same year at Nuremberg, which is mention'd in the Addition to the History of the Library of Nuremberg.

There are 3 Editions in 1480. one at Ingolstad, the other at Lyons, and a 3d at Memmingen, and one at Lunenburg, in 1493.

The first which fell into our hands is the French at Paris, in 1493. which we have already quoted, and has these words at the top, Here begins the most wholsom Bock Entituled, Of the Imitation of Jesus Christ our Lord, and a perfect contempt of this miserable World; which by some has been hitherto ascrib'd to St. Bernard, or Mr. John Gerson, tho' really it does not belong to them: For the Author of this Book under our Lord, was a Venerable Father, and most Devout Canon-Regular, who in his own time liv'd in a Regular Olservation of the Rule of my Lord St. Austin, Nam'd Friar Thomas de Kempis.

After this follows an Edition of the Works of Thomas a Kempis, in 1494. at Nuremberg, by Gaspar Hochfeder, by the Care of Peter Danhausser, and at the sollicitation of George Pickamer, Prior of the Carthusians of that City, wherein the Treatise of the Imitation is at the head of all the Works, with this Observation; Dulcissimi & Divi Thomae de Kempis viri piissimi, religiosis∣simi{que} de Imitatione Christi, Opus: quod falso apud vulgares Gersoni Parisiensi Cancellario impin∣gitur.

There are also before that at Paris, one by Badius in 1520. which some have thought to be the first Edition, under the Name of Thomas a Kempis; that of Collen, in 1507. and that at Antwerp, in 1519.

In the Editions of the Works of Thomas a Kempis by Badius, in 1520, 1521, and 1523. the Book of the Imitation is there with this Note, that it was falsly ascrib'd to Gerson. It was also printed at Venice, in 1535. among some Works of Thomas a Kempis with the same Note. I pass over in silence the Paris Editions of the years 1541, 1549, 1561, and 1574. and at Antwerp, in 1535, 1550, 1552, 1559, 1575, 1587, 1592, 1599, 1607. after which follow'd that of 1616. by Bellerus from the Manuscript written with the Author's own hand, in 1441. at Lyons in the years 1554, 1555, 1596, and 1601. at Vienna in Austria, in 1561. at Lisbon in the same year; at Dilingen in the years 1571, and 1576. at Basil in 1563. in which the 3 first Books are turn'd into fine Latin by Sebastian Castalio, which have been publish'd since after the same manner by Francis Toll, who Translated the 4th Book, and printed them together at Antwerp, in 1575. at Collen in the years 1575, 1582, 1591, 1601, 1607, and 1610. and at Rome, in 1583. wherein the Book of the Imitation is printed under the Name of Thomas a Kempis, a Canon Regular, or with this Observation, that it has been falsly ascrib'd to Gerson. Neither shall I mention the Editions in Vulgar Tongues, such as the French Version, printed in 1565. the Italian printed at Venice in 1569. a Spanish Version of Louis de Grenada, printed in 1542. two other Versions in the same Tongue, printed in 1615, and 1633. a Version into Flemish by Nicholas Winge a Canon-Regular of Louvain, printed at Louvain in 1584, and 1576. and at Antwerp, in 1591. a German Version printed at Di••ingen in 1554, and 1555. the Translations into the Turkish Language, in 1580. into the Bohemian in 1600. into the English in 1611. into the Greek at Ausburg, in 1615. into the Japan, Arabick and Hungarian Tongues in 1636.

This multitude of Editions does no ways terrify the Adversaries of Thomas a Kempis, for the latter are of no great Authority, and to the former they oppose Editions equally ancient, which ascribe this Book to St. Bernard, or to Gerson, under whose Name it appear'd many times in Italy, and France, before the Name of Thomas a Kempis was mention'd. These Editions were Publish'd since the death of the Author, at a time when some in Germany and Flanders thought the Book of Imitation was his; and they are either in Germany, or Flanders; for there is never an ancient Edition in Italy or France under the Name of that Author; but they are almost all under the Name of Gerson. Lastly, It is not by Editions that we must decide this Question, but by Manuscripts; for if another Author has some of these more ancient than Thomas a Kempis, this Book can be none of his.

If those which go under the Name of Gerson, or Gersen, are more ancient and more authenti∣cal than those which go under the Name of Thomas, 'tis more natural to ascribe it to them than to this latter. Upon this depends the Decision of the Question, and the number of later Editi∣ons ought not to be any prejudice against the Manuscripts.