In Praise of Folly - Couverture souple

Erasmus, Desiderius

 
9781602064607: In Praise of Folly

Synopsis

Erasmus wrote In Praise of Folly, his masterpiece of ironic literature, in less than a week while en route to England from Italy to visit his good friend Thomas More. He wrote it merely to amuse himself and he was astonished at its immediate and wide popularity. But his satire of the clergy, the upper classes, and general pretentiousness, narrated by the goddess Folly, daughter of Youth and Wealth, struck a chord and is considered by some historians to be one of the catalysts of the Protestant Reformation. This might have disappointed Erasmus who, though critical of the Church, never intended to encourage a split and remained a faithful adherent until his death. Still read regularly in college English courses, Erasmus's timeless classic remains as relevant today as it was when first written nearly five hundred years ago. Dutch humanist, scholar, and theologian DESIDERIUS ERASMUS (1466?-1536) is perhaps best remembered for In Praise of Folly. His other works include Handbook of a Christian Knight (1503), Instituto principis Christiani (1516), and Colloquia familiaria (1518).

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Présentation de l'éditeur

AS I WAS COMING awhile since out of Italy for England, that I might not waste all that time I was to sit on horseback in foolish and illiterate fables, I chose rather one while to revolve with myself something of our common studies, and other while to enjoy the remembrance of my friends, of whom I left here some no less learned than pleasant. Among these you, my More, came first in my mind, whose memory, though absent yourself, gives me such delight in my absence, as when present with you I ever found in your company; than which, let me perish if in all my life I ever met with anything more delectable. And therefore, being satisfied that something was to be done, and that that time was no wise proper for any serious matter, I resolved to make some sport with the praise of folly. But who the devil put that in your head? you'll say. The first thing was your surname of More, which comes so near the word Moriae (folly) as you are far from the

Présentation de l'éditeur

In Praise of Folly is an essay written in Latin in 1509 by Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam and first printed in June 1511. Inspired by previous works of the Italian humanist Faustino Perisauli's De Triumpho Stultitiae, it is a satirical attack on superstitions and other traditions of European society as well as on the western Church. Erasmus revised and extended his work, which was originally written in the space of a week while sojourning with Sir Thomas More at More's estate in Bucklersbury. In Praise of Folly is considered one of the most notable works of the Renaissance and played an important role in the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation.

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