"Appended to a MS. of Gerson's _De Consolatione Theologiæ_, dated 1421.
This gave rise to the supposition that he was the real author of that
celebrated work; and indeed it is a very doubtful point whether this
opinion is true or not, there being several high authorities which
ascribe to him the authorship of that book."--Knight's _Penny
Cyclopædia_, vol. vi. art. "Gerson."
Was there then _another_ John Gerson, a monk, and Abbot of St. Stephen,
between 1200 and 1240, to whom, as well as to the above, the _De
Imitatione_ has been ascribed? This, though not impossible, appears
extremely improbable. Is H. P. prepared with evidence to prove it?
Du Pin, in the chapter above quoted, farther says, in speaking of the _De
Imitatione Christi_:
"The style is pretty much like that of the other devotional books of
Thomas à Kempis. Nevertheless, in his lifetime it was attributed to St.
Bernard and Gerson. The latter was most commonly esteemed the author of
it in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Afterwards some MSS. of it
were found in Italy, where it is attributed to one Gerson or Gessen, to
whom is given the title of _abbot_. Perhaps Gersen or Gessen are only
corruptions of the name of Gerson. Notwithstanding, there are two
things which will hardly let us believe that this was Gerson's book;
one, that the author calls himself a monk, the other, that the style is
very different from that of the Chancellor of Paris. All this makes it
difficult to decide to which of these three authors it belongs. We must
leave Thomas à Kempis in possession of what is attributed to him,
without deciding positively in his favour."