Compilation of six important and controversial tracts by Desiderius Erasmus, in which he defends his revolutionary edition of the Greek New Testament from 1516, as well as his thoughts on marriage. The tracts are all present in either the first or a very early edition, and are all in very good condition, with wide margins. The present compilation was part of the library of the English writer and bibliophile John Evelyn (1620-1706), whose diary is an important source on 17th century Britain.
The first four tracts are defences of Erasmus' translation of the New Testament, addressing the criticism of Edward Lee (ca. 1482-1544), the Archbishop of York, to Erasmus' humanist interpretation. The exchange between the two men highlighted the tension between traditional biblical interpretation, of which Lee was a proponent, and the new humanist methods championed by Erasmus. The first two tracts, which are here present in first edition, are directly aimed at Lee. The third tract is Erasmus' defence of his unusual choice to translate the first line of the Gospel of Saint John as "in principio erat sermo" instead of the more common "in principio erat verbum". The present copy of the tract is an early edition published in the same year as the first edition. In the fourth tract, Erasmus addressed the criticism of Jacques Lefèvre d'Etaples (1455-1536) on his translation. The present copy is the first edition by Schürer and the second or third edition overall.
The final two tracts include Erasmus' thoughts on marriage. Encomium matrimonii is an important tract in which he puts forwards his arguments in favour of marriage, by means of a case study of a rich young man who was the only heir of his family but did not wish to marry. It is a beautiful example of humanist rhetoric, but was seen as a hidden attack on clerical celibacy by a number of theologians, and was therefore controversial and heavily censured. The final tract in the present collection is one of the apologies Erasmus wrote to defend himself and the work against allegations of heresy. The woodcut border on the title-page was designed by Ambrosius Holbein (ca 1494- ca 1519). Both these tracts are included in very early editions, published only a year after the first.
With a round manuscript shelf mark label mounted at the head of the spine, the bookplate of the British writer and book collector John Evelyn (1620-1706) mounted on the front pastedown, and a later annotation ("H. 2.8.") on the second free fly leaf. The corners of the boards are somewhat scuffed, the boards and spine have been slightly rubbed, with the loss of small parts of the title labels. Some leaves are somewhat water stained, but otherwise internally clean. Overall in good condition. Ad 1: Erasmus Online 3534; Nijhoff & Kronenberg 864; STCV 12915877 (2 copies); USTC 400417 (15 copies); Vander Haeghen I, p. 173; Ad 2: Erasmus Online 3536; Nijhoff & Kronenberg 865; USTC 403688 (8 copies); Vander Haeghen I, p. 173; not in the STCV; Ad 3: Erasmus Online 293; Nijhoff & Kronenberg 781; USTC 404711 (7 copies); Vander Haeghen I, p. 12; not in the STCV; Ad 4: Erasmus Online 5686; USTC 611145 (15 copies); VD16 E 2007; not in Vander Haeghen; Ad 5: Erasmus Online 1671; USTC 650552 (5 copies); Vander Haeghen I, p. 85; VD 16 E 2813; Ad 6: Bibl. Belgica E 1238; Erasmus Online 303; USTC 635402 (18 copies); Vander Haeghen I, p. 13; VD 16, E 2028.