ERASMUS, Desiderius

Paraphrasis in duas epistolas Pauli ad Corinthios...

      Basil Johann Froben 1519. First Edition Small 4to. pp. 222, [2]. Title inside ornate woodcut borders. Froben's woodcut device on verso of final leaf. The beginnings of sections II and III (pp. 29, 163) are each printed inside a woodcut border and each begin with a large decorative initial. Pages are clean and crisp overall but with very minor spotting / staining and periodic marginalia in a miniscule old hand. Pages in signature Z are printed out of order, but all leaves are present. Bound in modern quarter calf on late 18th - early 19th century marbled boards (rubbed). Calf board corners are also renewed. Desiderius Erasmus (1460-1527) Important Dutch Humanist writer, theologian and reformer. In 1516 Erasmus published his critical edition of the Greek New Testament. Immediately afterwards he started writing the "Paraphrases" or commentaries on the New Testament. These he considered suitable for the educated laymen. The "Paraphrases" were first published individually and were not collected together until 1524. They were soon translated into the common languages of Europe. In England the "Paraphrases" were particularly favored and English translations were placed in all the local parish churches in the country. [Adams E-789; VD16 E-3320; Bezzel 1434; Not in BM STC German]..