The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1876-12-03
The Authorship Of the Book Of The Imitation Of
Chr1st"

tits now o demonstrated fact that Thomas
a.Kempis is not the author of this i'm mortal
work. True his title to the glory OF having
produce tho work has always been more or
less contested, bat the acknowledgment OF bis
being the author had become popular. Hereafter
to claim that he is SO, will be to make an aaser.
tion proven to be false, and to do wsnton in-
Justice to the true author. The same may be
said with regard to John Charles alias Gerson.
Chancellor OF Paris, who is also, though not SO
pop ularly. reputed to have written the sublime
| volume. This clearly appears from the recent
| history published by Father Mslla, s. j OF
which q synopsis is given in late numbers OF
| the London Tablet The learned Father shows
concl lusi vely that neither Thomas g. KemPis nor
John Gerson, Chancellor of Paris, could have
possibly written the "Imitation." He does
| this by q very certain method, Wig: An exami-
| n alton of the most ancient and authentic manu-
scrpts and printed copies. considerable
number of the manuscripts are unmistakabiy
of the 18th, 14th aud 15Eh centuries. Some OF
them bear ex pressly the dates of 1883 and 1854.
Some of the Oldest have the name of John
Gsrsen, the vowel of the last syllable being c,
not as in the Cbaucellors name. ln fact the
Chancellor Gsrson was born in 1865, and o.
Ksmpis was born in 1880; SO that when the
last mentioned manuscript was copied, the
Chancellor was only snenty and Thomas-a
Kempis only three years of age. That youfh
of twenty wrote the Imitation one will for
an instant think possible. But this is not all
even the manuscripts that are not dated are
recog gnizsd, by the most competent ana cele-
brated experts in such matters, as bearing the
Iindubitable characteristics and impress of the
thirteenth aud fourteenth centuries Hence,
il is certain that the work was known and
froQueutly copied more than two centuries
before Thomas-a Kempis or tie Chancellor
Gersou " as bora. Tncn, it seems that the BOOK
rs even quoted by st. Thomas aid ST. Bona
venture in the thirteenth century. The Italian
translation, dated 1870 in manuscript ard
printed in 1893; bas been found One of these
old manuscripts stated that it had belonged 10
a nobemsn named Avogadro, of Vercelll' Italy;
aud on examination of the ancient diary of that
family an entry found showing that the
copy had been received in the year l343. In.
deed, the only ground for supposiug that the
Chancellor " as the author is the resem blance
of his name with that given in the man uscripts,
and the only ground for assuming that the
author was a-Kempis is that when he died
copy transcribed by himself was found in his
cell. The demonstration of the existence of
the great book long before the birth of both
these persons, leaves no pretext for the himsy
claim sdvanced in the name Of one or the
other Who then was the real authorf A great
number OF clearly proved facts, besides intrin-
SIC evidence, chow that the work was written
by a reIigious-by q Benedictine-by q Scho-
lastic-in tho 13 cenLury-in Italy-at Yer
celli-and that his name was John Gersen.
Then it is shown that John Gersen, born in
11s0, in the subarb of de Campis. Carvaglia,
Italy, was Abbot of the Ben ediotine Monastery
of ST. Stephens, ct Vercelli, from 1870 to 1885;
and that the particulars of his life and charac
ter correspond, 10 every respect, with the con-
dirions required for recognizing one as the
author OF the Imitation. Strange to say, not
withdrawing that he was indeed sc recognized
by the Sacred Congregation Of the Propaganda
in decree dated Rome, February II, 1859,
people went on printing the Imitation with the
name of John Gerson, the Chancellor, or of
Thomas.a Kempis the author. Now, how
ever, His Holiness Pics TX after due consid-
GRAFTON, has deemed it proper to give his bless
ing to the monument which bad been erected
at Vercelli, and was dedicated 22l of February,
Stephens, as the author of the Imitation, it ia
to be hoped that there will be an unapmouf
acquiesceuce, and that all recognition of rva
claims will cease.