Erasmus. The praise of folly / Translated by White Kennett. — London: Stephen Austen, 1726.

Title page in black and red: MORIÆ ENCOMIUM: | OR, THE | PRAISE | OF | FOLLY. |—| Written in Latin by | ERASMUS. |—| Translated into English by | WHITE KENNETT, | Lord Bishop of Peterborough; | With a PREFACE by his Lordship. |—| Adorn’d with | A great Number of COPPER PLATES | neatly engraven: To which is added, the Effigies of | ERASMUS, and Sir THOMAS MORE, from | theDesigns of the celebrated HANS HOLBEINE. |—| (in gothic letters) The Fourth Edition. |—| LONDON: | Printed for Stephen Austen, at the Angel in | St. Pauls’ Church-yard. 1726. ||

Pagination: modern endpapers and flyleaves, [2] – blank / frontis. (engraved portrait of Erasmus, [2] – t.p. in black and red with George Cruikshank’s signature in the bottom, dated 1876 / blank, [14] – to the reader, i-xiv – commendatory verses, [2] – John Wilford advert., folding portrait of Thomas More, i-v, [vi] – epistle, 1-168 – panegyrick, [4] – index.; 46 copper-engraved illustrations after Hans Holbein the Younger; pp. 17-20 detached.

Collation: 12mo; π² A⁶, a-b⁶, B-P⁶ Q² (B₃ unsigned), 13 in-text engravings + 26 plates + 7 folding plates; total 106 leaves and 33 plates, extraneous to collation.

Edition: 4th, thus.

Binding: 16.5 x 10.5 cm; rebacked with a modern spine, modern endpapers and flyleaves, contemporary boards sprinkled and tooled in a style of Cambridge panel.

Provenance: Cruikshank, George (British, 1792 – 1878) [1876]; Stephen Whitehead (Oakland, CA) [2021].

Catalogue raisonné: J. Lewine (1898) p. 171 — 1st edition thus of 1709, in-8vo, with portrait and 46 plates after Holbein.

Contributors:

Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (Dutch, c. 1469 – 1536) – author of the original text in Latin.

White Kennett (British, 1660 – 1728) – translator from Latin into English.

Hans Holbein the Younger (German, 1497/8 – 1543) – artist.

Stephen Austen (fl. c. 1727 – 1746) – publisher.

Linked items:

Engraved portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam in an octagonal frame, 1757 by Flipart after Holbein.

Эразм Роттердамский. Похвальное слово глупости. — М.-Л.: Academia, 1932.