Author(s): Sebastian Brant

World Literature & Criticism | Secondhand | Folio Society

Secondhand.

Translated by William Gillis. Ship of Fools is a book of satire originally published in 1494 in Basel, Switzerland, by Sebastian Brant, a conservative German theologian. In a prologue, 112 brief satires, and an epilogue, all illustrated with woodcuts, the book is notable for including the first commissioned work by the great Renaissance artist-engraver Albrecht Dürer. Much of the work was critical of the current state of the Church. Brant here lashes with unsparing vigour the weaknesses and vices of his time. The Ship of Fools was inspired by a frequent motif in medieval art and Literature, and particularly in religious satire, due to a pun on the Latin word “navis”, which means a boat and also the nave of a church.

VG in VG slipcase. Minor bump on the spine, Ex-libris plate on the front endpaper.