Erasmus (Desiderius) Moriae Encomium. Erasmi Roterodami declamatio, second edition, collation: A8, B4, C8, D4, E8, F4, G-H6, H6 blank with a few small ink stains to recto, the odd finger soil, very faint scattered spotting, light marginal water-staining, several ink marginalia and numerous underlinings, modern antique-style calf, spine a little faded, morocco label lettered in gilt to spine, a little bumped at corners, [VD16 E3180], small 4to, Strasbourg, in aedibus Matthias Schürer, August 1511.

⁂ Scarce first dated edition, printed only two months after the undated Paris edition. This present edition is not merely a reprint of the Paris edition, but contains additional material including an address and laudatory letter to Erasmus by his fellow humanist Jakob Wimpfeling.

An excellent example of a classic work of paradoxical satire, in which folly is personified and holds up a mirror to mankind. An extremely significant work both in its own right and for its influence on the Protestant Reformation in general. Sir Thomas More’s own magnum opus Utopia was at least in part written as a response to Moriae Encomium. Despite the risky nature of the work and its explicit and implicit attacks on established religion and authority figures of the time, its rapid popularity ensured that the author and the work were left unmolested by church and state, at least until Erasmus’ death in 1536, after which his previously untainted reputation was diminished.