The Praise of Folly ISBN: 9780300157239 Platform/Publisher: Ebook Central / Yale University Press Digital rights:Users: Unlimited; Printing: Limited; Download: 7 Days at a Time Subjects: Literature;
First published in Paris in 1511, The Praise of Folly enjoyed enormous and highly controversial success during the author's lifetime and down to our own day. The Folly has no rival, except perhaps Thomas More's Utopia , as the most intense and lively presentation of the literary, social, and theological aims and methods of Northern Humanism. Because it was a seminal and widely influential book, critics have often compared its witty and profound ironies with those of Rabelais, Ariosto, Shakespeare, and Cervantes. Clarence H. Miller has based his English translation on the definitive Latin text which he prepared for a new, complete edition of Erasmus sponsored by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. This Latin text is based on a complete collation of the thirty-six editions printed during Erasmus's lifetime, and the English edition indicates the major additions and revisions made by Erasmus after the first publication. Miller's translation echoes Erasmus's own lively style while at the same time retaining the nuances of its rich allusiveness; his introduction offers an up-to-date reading of the Folly and places it firmly in its multiple context of Erasmus as humanist and theologian. Also included in this edition are: Erasmus's letter defending the Folly to the theologian Martin Dorp; a commentary that is more complete than that in any translation or published Latin edition; and a bibliography that is the fullest available in any one place. The Praise of Folly is indispensable reading for students of history, English, and Renaissance studies. Clarence H. Miller is Dorothy Orthwein Professor of English at St. Louis University.
Desiderius Erasmus was born, probably in 1469, in Rotterdam, Holland. He studied in Paris, traveled in England, Germany, and Italy, and wrote in Latin. Living at the time of the Renaissance when most intellectual concepts were being examined, Erasmus was a great admirer of the ancient writers and edited many of their works. Erasmus remained a Roman Catholic, but believed that many of the priests and theologians had distorted the simple teachings of Jesus. He published an edition of the New Testament-the first edition in the original Greek-in order to make clear the essential teachings of Christianity.
Erasmus liked above all things clear and honest thinking; he despised intolerance and persecution. He was the greatest of the humanists because his books, more effectively than any others, propagated a humane philosophy of life, teaching that one's chief duties are to be intelligent, open-minded, and charitable. The most famous and the most influential of Erasumus' books were The Praise of Folly (1509) and Colloquies (1518). These works, written in lively, colloquial, and witty Latin, expressed his ideas on the manners and customs of his time.
Erasmus exerted a powerful influence not only through his books, but also through the private letters that he wrote to a great number of humanist scholars in all parts of Western Europe. He carried on extensive correspondences with Thomas More of England. More than 1500 of his letters survive today.
Erasmus died in Basel, Switzerland, on July 12, 1536.
