Erasmus’ Praise of Folly
The purpose of this text is to make available to intermediate readers of Latin the text of Erasmus’ Praise of Folly along with some of its most important parerga. In particular, we have included the commentary of Gerardus Listrius which was added to printed editions of the work starting in the 1515 edition, expanded in later editions until reaching its final form in 1532. The Praise of Folly is a great text for intermediate readers of Latin. It is not only Erasmus’ most famous work, but is also the most famous neo-Latin work of the renaissance – and justly so, for it is a unique masterpiece of subterfuge and irony. Moreover, the commentary of Gerardus Listrius has long been believed to be largely the work of Erasmus himself. The fact that Erasmus composed a scholarly commentary that was presented under the name of another person provides another layer of irony and subterfuge that enhances and complements the Praise of Folly itself.
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