Without the notes, Erasmus said, the texts of the Scripture were 'naked and defenceless, ' open to criticism by uncomprehending readers and corruption by careless printers. The Annotations represent not only Erasmus' defence of the New Testament against such abuss, but also a re…
Erasmus of Rotterdam (c. 1469-1536) was the greatest of the Renaissance humanists. Praise of Folly, first published in 1511, is both his best-known work and the best introduction to his thought.
Erasmus ranges from light-hearted jibes to vehement denunciation of the theologians and churchmen, monastic life and the condition of the Church, and then seriously expounds the virtues of the Christian way of life. This work is one of the best satirical classics of the Renaissa…
Erasmus of Rotterdam is one of the greatest figures of the Renaissance humanist movement which abandoned medieval pieties in favour of a rich new vision of the individual's potential. This book is Erasmus' best-known work, using a personification of folly to demonstrate human an…
Praise of folly and Letter to Maarten van Dorp, 1515
by Levi, A. H. T., Érasme
fromPenguin classics