Thomas More, 1557

First English edition of the complete works
Thomas More, 1557
MORE, Thomas (1478-1535). The Workes of Sir Thomas More Knyght, Sometyme Lorde Chauncellour of England, written by him in the Englysh tonge. London: John Cawood, John Wally and Richarde Tottell, 1557.

The first edition in English of the complete works of Sir Thomas More. More, the “man for all seasons,” was a Catholic scholar and humanist executed by the order of King Henry VIII for refusing to sign the oath acknowledging Henry as head of the Church. A student of Thomas Linacre and William Grocyn, More was a noted philosopher—most famous for his 1516 Utopia—and himself an ardent burner of heretics. His nephew William Rastall edited this volume while living in Louvain as a Catholic exile. This copy has early marginalia, perhaps by a Protestant: the phrase “sola fide” appears in one annotation. Pforzheimer 743; STC 18076.

Folio (264 x 180mm). With the leaf inserted between 2C5 and 2C6. Woodcut title border with the Queen's arms in top compartment [McKerrow and Ferguson 81], woodcut initials (title page remargined, toning and some spotting, a few repaired tears occasional touching letters, a small hole affecting text, final leaf strengthened, NN2 remargined at inner margin, some marginal annotations shaved). 19th-century dark brown morocco, edges gilt (rebacked with earlier spine laid down). Provenance: some early marginalia in various hands.