Erasmi - Colloquia [Elzevir / Reliure aux Armes] - 1650

In the Colloquia, Erasmus has students, travelers, merchants, monks, and women engage in dialogue to humorously and subtly critique the flaws and grandeur of his time. This 1650 Elzevier edition revives one of the most popular books of humanism: a series of lively, sometimes satirical conversations about education, religion, customs, and reason. It is a sparkling, free, and mischievous work that immerses us in humanist thought in full action, presented through nearly theatrical scenes.

Rotterdam Erasmus (1466–1536) is the quintessential free spirit of the European Renaissance. A traveling humanist, polyglot, and tireless letter writer, he attended universities and courts across Europe while advocating for an internal reform of the Church based on education, peace, and reason. Neither revolutionary nor conformist, he remains fiercely independent. His writings — from Adages to In Praise of Folly — have made him indispensable, and his influence still permeates modern thought. A mobile, ironic, and deeply European intellectual avant la lettre.




Erasmus of Rotterdam's colloquia, now improved with everyone's notes.

Amsterdam, Ludovic Elzevir, 1650.

Complete in 1 volume in-16 [589 pages + index].

Decorative armorial binding (to be identified) in full brown calf from the period. Spine with raised bands, decorated, with a title piece in morocco. Wear and small losses at the corners and tips. Hinges cracked but overall in good condition. Interior well preserved, browned paper, ex-libris in ink on the title page.

Good example despite the mentioned faults!