Thomas Kempis - De Imitatione Christi Libri Quatuor - 1709

[SPIRITUALITY – DEVOTIONAL LITERATURE – 18th CENTURY] THOMAS A KEMPIS [Thomas à Kempis] De Imitatione Christi Libri Quatuor [The Imitation of Christ] Venice, At Paolo Balleoni, 1709 Venetian pocket edition adorned with a copper-engraved frontispiece. In-24 miniature or pocket size (1 vol.). Frontispiece engraved in copperplate in etched line depicting the author (or an angel presenting the title) and a scene of bearing the cross, with the imprint address "Venetiis, Apud Paulum Balleonium, MDCCIX". Preliminary text and main body in Latin divided into four books (complete with Books I–IV). Full black morocco of the period, boards ornately framed with a rich blind tooling and a central gilt hot-pressed fleur-de-lis, spine with raised bands, mute (slightly rubbed). The copy is equipped with its two original brass inlay clasps, finely perforated and functional, a highly sought-after feature on small devotional books. Note that one clasp is fragile. Rear board bears a modern engraved ex-libris (T. Froissart) as well as a fine old manuscript inscription in brown ink: “Ex libris Francisci Cellini.” Printed in Venice in 1709 by the renowned Balleoni family of printers, major specialists in liturgical and theological works of wide diffusion for Italy and Catholic Europe. Condition Very fine condition for a miniature format of this type. The presence of the two original brass clasps is exceptional. The leather is sound and shows a beautiful old patina. The paper has a fine grain, browned evenly with a few foxing spots and slight old handling or marginal damp-staining without affecting readability, the frontispiece well preserved. The Imitation of Christ is considered, after the Bible, the most read and most widely circulated book in Western Christianity. This small Venetian pocket edition from the early 18th century, designed to fit in the palm of the hand or slide into the folds of a garment, was intended for daily prayer and intimate meditation. A superb exemplar.

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