Ortulus rosaru[m] liber deuotus, cunctisq[ue] deu[m] quere[n]tib[us] valde necessarius, nuper exactissime correctus [et] emendatus [A Dedicated Book on the Garden of Roses, Necessary to Those Who Seek God, Recently Most Accurately Corrected and Improved], by Thomas a Kempis, followed by a brief 'Prayer to the Lord Jesus and His Mother,' and 'Another Oration to the Blessed Virgin Mary,' both falsely attributed to Saint Bernard of Clairvaux Thomas a Kempis

[1503] Etienne Jehannot (or Pierre Le Dru) for Jean Petit (Paris), small octavo, 3 7/8 x 5 5/8 inches tall hardcover in modern paper-covered boards, gilt-lettered burgundy title label to spine, 24 leaves (final blank), signatures a-c8, collates complete. Slight rubbing and edgewear to covers, with chipping to spine title. Small label to verso of front cover from venerable antiquarian bookseller Libreria Antiquaria Rappaport in Rome. Paper repair to right edge of title page, not touching the type or engraved printer's device. Light dampstaining to top and bottom of most pages. Otherwise, very good. Rare. USTC (No. 767977) locates only five copies at institutions worldwide, including a color digitized copy at the Bonn University and State Library which is identical to this copy. See also Hugh W. Davies, Catalogue of Early French Books in the Library of C. Fairfax Murray (Holland Press, 1961), where this work is catalogued as item no. 417 at p. 621, and includes a reproduction of the Jean Petit woodcut which matches this copy, catalogued as Renouard 882 in the CERL Theasaurus, a printer's device which Jean Petit employed from 1495-1505. Jean I Petit (fl. 1492-1530) was the founder of the Petit dynasty of scholar-booksellers, one of the most important bookselling firms in Paris for almost a century. Though not a printer, Petit owned printing equipment used by various printers, including the associated printers Étienne Jehannot and Pierre Le Dru, and was a significant figure in spreading early Renaissance humanism, publishing a large number of volumes. In the colophon to the Garden of Roses here, Jean Petit is identified as 'in vico Sancti Jacobi ad intersignium Leonis argentei' ('on St. James street at the sign of the silver lion'), referring to the location of Petit's shop in Paris in 1503. By 1508, Petit's books included that address in French and by 1511 referred to his new location at the sign of the Fleur-de-Lys. ~KMP~ [1.0P] The Garden of Roses is one of the most popular of the many 'lesser works' of Augustinian monk, priest, copyist and scholar Thomas a Kempis (circa 1380-1471), author of 'The Imitation of Christ,' one of the best known and most beloved Christian devotional works. In contrast to The Imitation, which outlines the general principles of discipleship, The Garden of Roses provides more practical guidance for cultivating the virtues needed to advance toward God. Kempis explores the futility of a life lived without God and encourages readers to find their happiness and purpose in the knowledge and service of the divine. Kempis, a German-Dutch Catholic Augustinian order canon regular, was a member of the Congregation of Windesheim, which was part of 'The Modern Devotion,' a reform movement during the late medieval period, and a follower of Geert Groote and Florens Radewyns, the founders of the Brethren of the Common Life, of which the Windesheim Augustinians were an offshoot. In addition to The Imitation of Christ and The Garden of Roses, he also wrote the biographies of New Devotion members Gerard Groote, Floris Radewijns, Jan van de Gronde, and Jan Brinckerinck, as well as a series of sermons to the novices of his monastery, including Prayers and Meditations on the Life of Christ, Meditations on the Incarnation of Christ, Of True Compunction of Heart, Soliloquy of the Soul and Valley of Lilies.