Prague, 1698 (?) Format 8° (larger), 21x17 cm. [2] leaves of preface (incomplete; bound in at the back, after the index), 1137 numbered pages, [3] leaves of index; in Czech. Title page missing and part of the preface missing, further the leaf with pp. 1023/1024 torn out. Initials, headpieces, vignette. Solid leather modern rebinding, spine with 4 raised bands. Apart from the missing leaves, the book is in good condition, with only minor traces of woodworm. In the 18th and 19th centuries this book was among the most widely read and most influential works of popular piety in the Czech lands. Martin von Cochem originally wrote the book in German under the title Das Grosse Leben Christi. It was translated into Czech by the Capuchin Edelbert Nymburský and appeared in many editions (e.g. 1746, 1759, 1779). The author vividly, emotionally and dramatically depicts the life of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary and their relatives (St. Anne, St. Joseph, John the Baptist and others). He supplements the text with legends, apocryphal stories and mystical visions intended to arouse in the reader of the time deep compassion and piety. The book shaped the religious and aesthetic sensibility of several generations of our ancestors and remains to this day a sought-after collector's rarity. Martin von Cochem (birth name Linius) - German Roman Catholic priest, Capuchin and writer of popular devotional literature. In the 18th century he was among the most popular and most published authors in Catholic Central Europe, including the Czech lands. He entered the Capuchin order, was ordained a priest in 1657, and completed his theological studies in 1663. He worked in pastoral care and in various Capuchin monasteries, e.g. in Prague at Hradčany in 1693-1695. He is the author of numerous religious books which, for their popular and often apocryphal character, were criticised by Church theologians already during his lifetime, but which became beloved reading among broad segments of the population. From 1666 Martin also worked as a popular missionary, and in his work he focused above all on general popular piety. The first group of his works consists of prayer books such as Nebe-klíč (Key to Heaven) or Štěpná zahrada (Grafted Garden). He further focused on legends of the saints and treatments of biblical themes, especially in the book The Great Life of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and of His Most Holy and Most Beloved Mother, the Virgin Mary.