GNAPHEUS, Guilelmus

Comoedia Acolasti titulo inscripta, de filio prodigo, . Verba prodigi resipientis, Lucae 15. Pater, peccaui in coelum & coram te, iam non sum dignus uocari filius tuus

      Apud Mauricium de Porta,, Paris 1540 - Unbound pamphlet 8vo . Scarce early edition of this neo-Latin school drama by the Dutch humanist, Guilelmus Gnapheus (Willem de Volder: 1493 - 1568) who was a supporter Luthers. He wrote his drama "Acolastus" in 1529 after the models of Plautus and Terence on the theme of the Prodigal Son which was a popular motif of the period. It was one of the first biblical school dramas to use theological topics to deal with contemporary disputes. The work was very popular and ended up in a number of play collections and was even believed to be a Jesuit drama with the article in the New Catholic Encyclopedia (vol. VII, 894a) grouping it with other similar Jesuit works and saying it was first published in 1560 (probably referring to a later play collection). There appears to be two issues of this edition; one with the last two leaves incorrectly numbered 98-99 (with the reversed 6) and our issue with the numbering corrected. The OCLC only locates one copy of this edition at the University of Illinois (also lacking last blank; with the 98-99 numbering) 69, pp. [1] blank page, without last presumably blank leaf. Few minor on title-page. Nice copy. § Not in Adms or the BM/STC French.