Erasmus, Desiderius (1466/ 1467/ 1469-1536). — Colloquia Familiaria.

Amsterdam, W, Janssonius, 1621, 508,(4) pag., engraved title with portrait of Erasmus standing, contemporary overlapping vellum with author and title in ink on spine, 24mo= Quite a rare edition, with only 2 copies listed in STCN (Nijmegen and Rotterdam). Coffin, Western Civilizations II, p.463. Erasmus's famous 'Colloquies' is a collection of humanistic dialogues on a wide variety of subjects, most of which explore man's reactions to other men through conversation. Erasmus, and his pupils, wrote on war, travel, religion, sleep, beggars, funerals, literature, and other topics. (Coffin) This work exposed some of Erasmus's humor through the invention of word games and rhetoric exercises used for education. It did so using everyday Latin dialogues to teach both language and moral values, making humanist ideas accessible to a wide audience. They also played a key role in spreading Renaissance humanism and subtly critiquing social and religious practices of the time. He wanted culture to serve as a model for those living during the Renaissance. Occasional small inkstains (all text well legible).