Erasmus — Éloge de la folie
Société Beaux Livres, Grands Amis, 1965, losbladig in katernen in linnen band, linnen schuifdoos, 188, This rare 1965 bibliophile edition of Erasmus's Éloge de la Folie, featuring the debut of Pierre Mesnard’s highly acclaimed French translation, is a masterfully crafted work published exclusively for the private French society Beaux Livres, Grands Amis. Printed on premium watermarked vélin d'Arches paper, the book is designed in a large in-quarto format and issued as unbound loose signatures protected by a grey paper wrapper, all housed in a luxury green cloth slipcase. The meticulous typography utilizes Caslon (corps 16) for the main text and Times (corps 9) for Mesnard's scholarly notes and commentary. Architect of the overall design, the master book artisan Robert Blanchet executed the layout, cover art, and the custom woodcut decorated initials. A centerpiece of this edition is the stunning double-page frontispiece, hand-engraved with a burin by the prominent French artist Pierre-Yves Trémois and printed on the historic presses of Lacourière-Frélaut in Paris. The total print run was strictly limited to 250 numbered copies, with copies Roman-numbered I to CL reserved exclusively for the society’s official members and copies Arabic-numbered 1 to 100 designated for general sale and collaborators, alongside a few unnumbered personal presentation copies dedicated to the creators., Goed
