More, De optimo Reip. statu deque nova insula Utopia libellus vere aureus, Basel, 1518, German blind-tooled pigskin
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December 10, 04:10 PM GMT
Estimate
20,000 - 30,000 GBP
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Description
MORE, THOMAS, AND DESIDERIUS ERASMUS. De optimo Reip. statu, deque nova insula Utopia, libellus verus aureus… Epigrammata clarissimi disertissimique viri Thomae Mori… Epigrammata. Des. Erasmi. Basel: (Johann Froben, December 1518)
"Utopia is not, as often imagined, More's ideal state… It reflects the moral poverty of the states which More knew… [He] is a saint to the Catholic, and a predecessor of Marx to the Communist. His manifesto is and will be required reading for both, and for all shades of opinion between" (Printing and the Mind of Man).
The present edition represents the fourth edition of Utopia and the second of More's epigrams. The epigrams of Erasmus, who had dedicated Moriae Encomium with its punning title to More, were first printed in 1506. The three parts were issued together by Froben but are often found separately.
4to (200 x 143mm). Roman, Greek and Utopian types, 26 lines plus headline. collation: a–z4 A–T4 V6: 174 leaves. Woodcut historiated border to title of each part and to preface, the first by Ambrosius Holbein, the others by Hans Holbein, full-page woodcut of Utopia and half-page woodcut of John Clement, Thomas More, Raphael Hythlodaye and the dedicatee of Utopia, Pieter Gillies, by Ambrosius Holbein, a different woodcut printer's device at end of each part, woodcut historiated initials by A. and H. Holbein. (Slight damp-staining at end, title-page tipped in.)
binding: German sixteenth-century blind tooled pigskin over bevelled wooden boards (212 x 160 mm), either the book's second binding or a remboitage as some marginalia have been trimmed, spine with 3 full bands, traces of title in ink in top compartment. (Some worming and minor damage to lower cover, spine repaired, both boards a little warped at head, later pastedowns and endpapers.)
provenance: Jacobus Fortus, inscriptions on second and third title-pages, and notes on those pages stating that someone (Fortus?) finished reading these sections on 3 December and 17 November 1578 — Colin Maclaurin, advocate (most likely the grandson of the mathematician Colin Maclaurin), inscription dated Edinburgh, 1800, along the gutter of a2 and of d1 — Alfred Higgins (d. 1903), book label — William H. Schab, New York, Catalogue 41: Great books of art, science & music, 1966, item 44 — Arthur Vershbow (1922-2012) and Charlotte Vershbow (1924-2000), joint book label, acquired in 1968, their sale, Christie’s New York, 9-10 April 2013, lot 264 (mis-dated as the March edition). acquisition: Purchased at the preceding sale. references: VD16 M 6300; USTC 630793
