Erasme / Hans Holbein - Eloge de la folie - 1967

Remarkable facsimile, in a pastiche vellum binding stamped with the title on the back, of the 1515 edition of Erasmus's In Praise of Folly illustrated with marginal drawings by Hans Holbein (1497-1543). This facsimile, produced with great care, is very close to the original: guards reproduced, tinted paper, reproduction of inks, etc. The reproduced edition was printed by Johannes Froben in Basel, a renowned printer of the time, who played a crucial role in disseminating humanist ideas. The marginal drawings by Hans Holbein add a major visual dimension that complements and enriches Erasmus's text, delivering a satirical and humorous critique of the mores of his era. The copy of this edition is preserved at the Basel Museum of Fine Arts, where it is protected and studied today for its historical and artistic importance.

The facsimile is accompanied by two other works:

- ERASME (Didier). In Praise of Folly. Paris, Union latine d'éditions; Lausanne, Éditions du Bibliophile, 1967. 3 vols. in-4: translation, 180 p., [2] pages, 19 wood engravings not included in the text, black morocco binding by the publisher, boards ornamented in gold with a fool on a staircase, gilded edges;

- A study by Hanspeter Landolt, 14 p., [1] f., green brochure titled in gold. Edition of Erasmus’s half-millennium.

¶ Written in 1509 at the house of Thomas More (1478-1535), Erasmus's Moriae Encomium (1466/1469-1536) gives voice to Folly, which makes its own praise and surveys theologians, monks, princes, and scholars. The Basel edition by Johann Froben (c. 1460-1527), published in 1515 with commentary by Gerardus Listrius (c. 1490-after 1522), marks a major milestone. The manuscript copy of the humanist Oswald Myconius (1488-1552) received at the end of 1515 more than eighty pen drawings in the margin, by the hand of the young Hans Holbein (1497-1543). It is the first illustrated cycle of the work; it is preserved in the Kupferstichkabinett of the Kunstmuseum Basel (inventory 1662.166, former Amerbach cabinet).

Edition limited to 5,000 numbered copies, reserved for friends of Éditions du Bibliophile. The set brings together the text, its illustrated translation by Chièze, and the complete reproduction of the Myconius exemplar. This reproduction is the most accessible after the Basel edition by Heinrich Alfred Schmid in 1931. All three elements are present but without the case that usually accompanies them.

Good overall condition; the leather of the Chièze-illustrated edition shows small nicks (see specific photo); other defects are minor.