Hardcover. Condition: Very good +. Third Edition. No. 476 of 500 copies. xi, 247 p. 22 cm. 83 b&w engravings by Holbein. Bound in half leather with marbled boards and endpapers. Top edge gilt. Light scuffing to spine and a bit of shelf wear. Ink signature on a front endpaper. French text. Erasmus wrote In Praise of Folly in Latin in 1509. Having formed its outline during his travels in Italy and Germany, the author revised and expanded the work during his stay with his friend Sir Thomas More in Bucklersbury, England. "Folly" is considered one of the most influential works in Western literature and a catalyst for the Reformation. The work enjoyed great popular success, much to Erasmus's astonishment and sometimes his dismay. Even Pope Leo X found it amusing.