Back to the Library
The Medieval Church · first printed 1471
The Imitation of Christ in Print
Thomas à Kempis · c. 1380–1471
Read elsewhere
What it is
The first printed edition of the Imitation, followed by some hundred more before 1500 — one of the most reprinted books of the incunable age.
Why it lasted
A monastic notebook from the Low Countries became, through print, the devotional book of Europe within thirty years of its author's death.
Where to read it
Public domain and free to read in full, though not held here. The archives below have it.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
Read next