SOURCE: Moxey, Keith P. F. “The Ship of Fools and the Idea of Folly in Sixteenth-Century Netherlandish Literature.” In The Early Illustrated Book: Essays in Honor of Lessing J. Rosenwald, edited by Sandra Hindman, pp. 86-102. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1982.

In the following excerpt, Moxey examines The Ship of Fools in the context of moralizing, didactic Netherlandish literature, noting its distinctive voice and serious stance compared to other works of its genre.

Among the books given to the Library of Congress by Lessing J. Rosenwald are two sixteenth-century Flemish translations of The Ship of Fools by Sebastian Brant. Following its publication in Basel in 1494, this work went on to become one of the most successful published works of the age. At least twelve German editions appeared before Brant's death in 1521.¹ Its translation into Latin by Jacob Locher in 1497 made the book accessible to an international audience...