Vols. for 1871-76, 1913-14 include an extra number, The Christmas bookseller, separately paged and not included in the consecutive numbering of the regular series.

Between 1500 and 1700, eight very different English translations of Kempis's Imitatio were published in about 70 editions, crossing boundaries of language, confessional affiliation, and literary genre. This study explores the ways in which biblicism and inwardness, so typical of the Latin original work, are subject to creative transformations by the English translators. Thus, the translations reflect and even influence more general tendencies in the wider corpus of early modern English literature, for example in the works of George Herbert, John Bunyan, and early English Bible translations. Florian Kubsch worked as a researcher at the Department of English at the Eberhard Karls Universitaet Tuebingen, Germany.

Published in over 6,000 editions before the year 1900, The Imitation of Christ has been more widely read than any other book in human history except the Bible itself. It has been called “the most influential work in Christian literature,” “a landmark in the history of the human mind,” and “the fifth gospel.” Now, and for the first time, comes an exhaustive edition of this classic work, a work that is bound to become a classic in its own right. Fr. John-Julian introduces Kempis and his Imitation in ways that will shock many who have read the book before. For example, Protestant devotees to the book may be astounded to discover that Thomas was not only a Roman Catholic but an ardent traditionalist contemplative monk as well. And devoted Catholic readers may be amazed to discover that he was a radical moral reformer and part of a group twice formally charged with heresy. Notes and introductions to every aspect of The Imitation open the meaning of this classic to the next generation of readers.