Folio Archives 256: Praise of Folly by Erasmus 1974
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1wcarter
Praise of Folly by Erasmus of Rotterdam 1974
Erasmus (1466-1536) is a fascinating16th century figure in many ways. He was a Dutch philosopher and Catholic priest who is considered to be one of the greatest scholars of the Renaissance. He helped prepare the way for the Protestant Reformation, while not aligning himself with it, and was one of history’s first humanists.
Praise of Folly was written in a week as an amusement and is a wonderful example of his rhetorical wit. It is purportedly an essay written by Lady Folly to Thomas More. The irony is that we learn wisdom from the mouth of folly. Unbelievably, no one had the idea of writing on this topic before, and none since. An interesting read, from a colossal intellect.
The 115 page book was translated and introduced by Betty Radice. Erasmus’ essay takes only 87 pages of the book, and is divided into 68 sections that vary from a paragraph to a couple of pages in length.
There is a contemporary frontispiece portrait of Erasmus by Quentin Metsijs and 8 plates from the 1515 second edition of the book with marginal notes by Gerard Lijster (who was influenced by material supplied by Erasmus) and ink sketches by Hans Holbein.
The slim book is bound in bright red cloth with cover lettering in black designed by Fiona Campbell. It has light grey endleaves, mid-grey tinted page tops and a textured white slipcase 25.9x15.9cm. The spine title in black and gilt runs from bottom to top.
The Folio Society published another edition with the slightly different title of In Praise of Folly in 2014. This edition was introduced by Eamon Duffy, and had a frontispiece and 8 colour illustrations by Matthew Richardson.
2014 edition.
Image from the internet.
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.
Erasmus (1466-1536) is a fascinating16th century figure in many ways. He was a Dutch philosopher and Catholic priest who is considered to be one of the greatest scholars of the Renaissance. He helped prepare the way for the Protestant Reformation, while not aligning himself with it, and was one of history’s first humanists.
Praise of Folly was written in a week as an amusement and is a wonderful example of his rhetorical wit. It is purportedly an essay written by Lady Folly to Thomas More. The irony is that we learn wisdom from the mouth of folly. Unbelievably, no one had the idea of writing on this topic before, and none since. An interesting read, from a colossal intellect.
The 115 page book was translated and introduced by Betty Radice. Erasmus’ essay takes only 87 pages of the book, and is divided into 68 sections that vary from a paragraph to a couple of pages in length.
There is a contemporary frontispiece portrait of Erasmus by Quentin Metsijs and 8 plates from the 1515 second edition of the book with marginal notes by Gerard Lijster (who was influenced by material supplied by Erasmus) and ink sketches by Hans Holbein.
The slim book is bound in bright red cloth with cover lettering in black designed by Fiona Campbell. It has light grey endleaves, mid-grey tinted page tops and a textured white slipcase 25.9x15.9cm. The spine title in black and gilt runs from bottom to top.
The Folio Society published another edition with the slightly different title of In Praise of Folly in 2014. This edition was introduced by Eamon Duffy, and had a frontispiece and 8 colour illustrations by Matthew Richardson.
2014 edition.
Image from the internet.
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.
2PartTimeBookAddict
I have the newer version. I didn’t realize they had different introductions.
Thanks for the showcase!
Thanks for the showcase!
3jfkf
Can someone tell me how to view all the books in wcarters archive? Sorry but I find LibraryThing hard to navigate.
4wcarter
>3 jfkf:
These reviews are only in Library Thing but are indexed.
Go to https://www.librarything.com/topic/266300
These reviews are only in Library Thing but are indexed.
Go to https://www.librarything.com/topic/266300
5jfkf
>4 wcarter: Thank you sir, I have added it to my favorites, and thank you for taking the time to archive all of your beautiful books and sharing them with us.
6mr.philistine
I recently acquired the Heritage Press-exclusive edition of Moriae Encomium with woodcuts by Franz Masereel. This HP edition was printed at the ancient printing house of Joh. Enschedé En Zonen in Haarlem-Holland (rather than the usual NY or CT) and under the supervision of legendary Dutch typographer, type designer and book designer - Jan Van Krimpen. It is amazing that you can still acquire copies of this title for under $10 with slipcase and Sandglass!
More on this edition:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/241067#5814497
https://georgemacyimagery.wordpress.com/2017/07/30/heritage-press-moriae-encomiu...
More on this edition:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/241067#5814497
https://georgemacyimagery.wordpress.com/2017/07/30/heritage-press-moriae-encomiu...
7kermaier
>6 mr.philistine: A favorite of mine, too — I got it in preference to the LEC edition.
