BRANT, Sebastian ( 1458 - 1521 )

Stultifera navis ......

      1 June 1497. Fourth Latin edition. Strassburg : Johann (Reinhard) Gruninger. A-B6 C-H4, 6 I4 K-X4, 6 Y6. 112 leaves numbered 1-116 with errors. This copy has the final three leaves Y4-6 supplied in facsimile from British Library copies which have been printed on old paper, which has been expertly aged, and bound in. 118 woodcuts from 78 blocks. Some interesting early ink annotations in the margins, light staining, a few margins closely shaved with slight loss to one or two headers, upper corner of O expertly repaired with loss of a few letters and to the corner of a woodcut on the verso of the leaf, small hole in Vii with loss of a few letters; overall in crisp clean condition, recently rebound in a subdued contemporary style dark brown calf. " The Ship of Fools " first appeared at Basel printed in German under the title " Narrensciff " in 1494, followed in Latin in 1497. Its immediate popularity and universal appeal resulted in numerous pirated editions, of which this is the third in Latin. The woodcuts illustrating this edition derive from the influential Basel series. While the Strassburg cuts depend on the original Basel series for their iconography, they differ considerably in their artistic treatment, particularly in their dark tones and in the attention paid to the landscape backgrounds. They first appeared in Gruninger's German edition of 1494. Arguably the most famous humanistic work of its time, it exercised a tremendous influence in England, where it was first published in 1509, as well as on the continent. Hain 3749 * ; BMC 1, 112 (1A1459) ; Goff B - 1089.