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