Although not translated into English until 1549, Erasmus's most famous work, the
Praise of Folly
, has an English provenance as the product of his friendship with Thomas More. The text of the original translation, by Thomas Chaloner, appears here for the first time in a fully annotated, modernised edition. It is presented alongside a selection from the English
Paraphrases
, a central text of the Edwardian Reformation; translations of two pacifist works, the
Bellum Erasmi
and
The Complaint of Peace
, the second of which is constructed as an oration, like
Praise of Folly;
and the essay on the adage
Sileni Alcibiadis
.