LITERATURE/PHILOSOPHY] - Lot 132

LITERATURE/PHILOSOPHY] ERASMUS, GUEUDEVILLE] In Praise of Folly, with notes by Gérard Listre and beautiful illustrations by Holbein, Amsterdam, 1731 A 12mo volume in full sheepskin, with a richly decorated spine, containing: a frontispiece, title page, (12) pages of the translator’s preface, 1 portrait, (12) pages of Erasmus’s preface and a warning, 320 pages, 6 fold-out plates. New edition, carefully revised and reorganized from this burlesque and allegorical fiction in which Erasmus gives voice to the goddess of Folly and has her deliver a scathing critique of various professions and social classes, notably theologians, teachers, monks, and the high clergy, as well as courtiers... Superb illustration by Holbein. Ex-libris No. 280 by Paul-Aram BAZIRGUIAN (1887–1972), bearing the motto: “Mihi dedit Armenia patrem matremque Gallia. Dubium Montanus lucemque Socrates," meaning: "Armenia gave me a father, France a mother, Montaigne doubt, and Socrates light." The coat of arms depicts Armenia with Mount Ararat, France with the rooster, doubt with the scales, and light with the star. Rounded corners, interior in good condition.