Beschreibung:

MORE, Thomas (1478-1535). La Description de l'Isle d'Utopie . Paris: Charles l'Angelier, 1550.
MORE, Thomas (1478-1535). La Description de l'Isle d'Utopie . Paris: Charles l'Angelier, 1550. 8° (164 x 100mm). Woodcut devices on title and final leaf, 12 woodcut illustrations, woodcut initials. (Light browning throughout, a few neatly repaired marginal tears.) Red morocco gilt janseniste by Lortic fils, spine with raised bands and lettered directly in gilt, gilt turn-ins, edges marbled and gilt. Provenance : Prince of Liechtenstein (bookplate) – Librairie Tulkens, Brussels (ticket). FIRST FRENCH EDITION OF THOMAS MORE'S GROUNDBREAKING TEXT, TRANSLATED BY JEAN LE BLOND THE LIECHTENSTEIN COPY. More had begun Utopia in part as a light-hearted response to the Moriae Encomium ( The Praise of Folly , 1511), by his friend Erasmus. In it he describes the ideal society and state of the Utopians on an island that has never been found. The structure and legislation of Utopian society contrast markedly with the conditions of real-life Renaissance England. The edition begins with a letter by Guillaume Budé, the great humanist and friend of both More and Erasmus, praising the merits of this highly political text. The translator of both the text and Budé’s introductory letter was Jean le Blond d'Evreux, seigneur de Branville, his name being mentioned twice in the book (f. A1v and O2r). The translation (from the Latin original) precedes the English edition by a year. According to Peggram, the French translation was executed with much more care and elegance than the English, and devoted more attention to correct bibliographical detail. The twelve woodcuts are well executed; most were probably made for this edition. The familiar depiction of the author at his desk may have been produced for l'Angelier, but copied from an older woodcut. Mortimer, Harvard French , 391; Gibson 19; Adams, M-1759; Brunet III 1894, and Supplement I, 1115-16; Davies, Fairfax Murray French 391; USTC no. 20697