12mo. (XX),672 p. Overlapping vellum. 14 cm (Ref: Willems 1285: 'Réimpression ligne pour ligne de l'édition donnée par les Elzevier en 1655'; Berghman 1350; Rahir 1324; Brunet 2,1040) (Details: 5 thongs laced through the joints. Title engraved by Corn. Cl. Duysend, it depicts a standing Erasmus, who looks through a telescope into a clouded sky; from a cloud comes the hand of God, that bears the 'globus cruciger' (corss-bearing orb, in German Reichsapfel); the globe represents the earth, and he who holds the globe, owns the world. The motto on the title suits Erasmus: 'Vidit, pervidit, risit'. This engraved title was already used by Elsevier for the edition of the Colloquia of 1636. On the last of the preliminary pages a woodcut illustration, depicting both sides of a medal of Erasmus, on the recto his portrait, on the verso his motto: 'Concedo nulli'; around it the legend with Erasmus' interpretation of his motto: 'Mors ultima linea rerum') (Condition: Vellum age-tanned and somewhat soiled) (Note: 'The Colloquia, like the Adagia, were written over a period of years and constantly enlarged as edition succeeded edition. From their earliest form of short models of Latin conversation and formulae of etiquette (composed at Paris in 1497 for the use of some pupils and first printed in 1518) they grew into 'a rich and motley collection of dialogues, each a master piece of literary form, well-knit, spontaneous, convincing, unsurpassed in lightness, vivacity and fluent Latin, each one a finished one-act play' (Huizinga). The Colloquia, full of witty and penetrating observations on ordinary day-to-day happenings as well as on the basic weakness of Church and society, are an invaluable mine of information about 16th century customs, institutions and social problems. Besides, their success as a schoolbook was unrivaled and the stream of editions and translations flowed almost uninterruptedly down to modern times'. (Gilhofer & Ranschburg GmbH, Catalogue 50, Erasmus, published on the 500th anniversary of his birth', Luzern, ca. 1967, p. 34) The Colloquia are preceded by a short biography of Erasmus (last sentence: 'Discerptus est ab utraque, dum utrique studet consulere'), and a table of content) (Collation: *10, A-2E12) (Photographs on request)