Thomas More | The Debellacyon of Salem and Bizance, 1533, the Foyle copy

Thomas More

The debellacyon of Salem and Bizance. London: W. Rastell, 1533.

FIRST EDITION, 8vo (163 x 115mm), black letter, in two parts, title in woodcut border (McKerrow and Ferguson 27), woodcut historiated initials, with errata leaves but without the rare two-leaf address by the author (on cancel leaves -Y8 + [rum]²), crushed brown panelled morocco gilt by Riviere, gilt edges, housed in a collector's folding box, washed and pressed, C8 believed to be in facsimile, neat repairs to first and final leaves, some with a few letters in facsimile (e.g. A4, Y4)

The Debellacyon (a word meaning complete annihilation) was written in October 1533 in reply to Christopher St. German's Salem and Bizance (1533, STC 21584), a work which was itself a response to More's own Apologye (1533, STC 18078). These late controversial works were written in defence of the church's independence from common law, especially with regard to heresy, in a doomed attempt to prevent legal changes to secure secular (i.e. royal) control over the church following the break from Rome. St German, More's opponent, was writing with the support of Cromwell and the king. Six months after the work's publication, More was in the Tower for refusing to accept the royal supremacy.

RARE ON THE MARKET. The only other copy recorded at auction in the last half century on Rare Book Hub is the Fox Pointe copy, sold in 2016.

PROVENANCE:

William Foyle, bookplate; sale of his library, Christie's, London, 11 July 2000, lot 378