Imitatio Christi

Imitatio Christi, a famous book highly prized by devout Christians of all confessions, and translated into more languages than any book except the Bible. The question of its authorship has given rise to a great controversy. It was formerly attributed unhesitatingly to Thomas à Kempis, and the best authorities still regard it as his work. But it has been claimed for Chancellor Gerson (q.v.), for Gerson, abbot of Vercelli (an apparently hypothetical person), for Walter Hilton, a monk of Sheen in Surrey, for Bonaventura, Bernard of Clairvaux, and for many other writers, both famous and obscure. See KEMPIS (THOMAS À).