1. This Present Boke named the Shyp of Folys of the Worlde, 1509

Curatorial Notes:

Sebastian Brant’s satirical Narrenschiff (Basel, 1494) uses the “ship of fools” trope to mock the follies of society — including the “vayne & deceytfull craft of alkemy” (fol. 222v). This woodcut, which accompanies Brant’s section on fraud, pairs an alchemist in a fool’s cap (on the left) with a fraudulent vintner (on the right). Although Brant attacks false alchemists who peddle useless knowledge, he still leaves open the possibility that an honest practitioner might succeed in transmutation.

Credit Line:

Rare Books Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Creator:

Brant, Sebastian, 1458-1521

Publisher:

Inprentyd in the cyte of London : In Fletestre at the signe of Saynt George by Rycharde Pynson, 1509.

View in catalog:

https://catalog.princeton.edu/catalog/9934248643506421