RABELAIS, François.
£2,750 · Offered by Sokol Books
François Rabelais (1483-1553) is known for his off-piste, satirical and bawdy humour as well as his controversial anticlerical opinions. He is playful and contradictory by nature, and produced a rich and wide ranging body of writing including but not limited to comedic novels, mocking poetry and parodic songs. Underlining these is a deeply critical view of the tumultuous political environment stirred up by the Reformation, as well as a message which asks for peace and a return to the glory of antiquity. This volume is demonstrative of his remarkable range and contains hugely popular works like Gargantua and Pantagruel and Th él√®me. He is the origin of the adjective Rabelasian , something marked by gross robust humor, extravagance of caricature, or bold naturalism. Unusually large format edition containing an attractive woodcut portrait of Rabelais consistent with the digitized version at the Lyon municipal library. The stories exploit popular legends, farces and romances as well as classical and Italian material and are intended for a learned, aristocratic audience. Scatological humour is employed as well as religious satire. Rabelais s own views can be called Christian humanism , though orthodox religious figures often condemned his works. His first novel was published in 1532 under the pseudonym Alcofribas Nasier, and was a mock-heroic chivalrous romance entitled Pantagruel. Rabelais also produced parodies of the yearly almanacs, mocking the alleged astrological prediction
- Binding: Hardcover
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