(1517). MORE (Thomas). DE OPTIMO REIPUBLICAE STATU, DEQUE NOVA INSULA UTOPIA. (Paris), Jean du Pré II and Jacques le Messier) for Gilles de Gourmont (1517). Small in-8 (146 x 95 mm) of 126 leaves (A-C⁸ D⁴ E-Q⁸- R2), half mahogany basane, smooth spine decorated with cold fillets (19th century binding). "This book is not a mere dream, it is a provocation, a mirror held up to humanity to ask itself: Wherever property is the only rule, public welfare is impossible". It's a bold statement that still resonates today! On the island of Utopia, everything is reversed, everything is magnificently right! Property is collective, gold is despised, work is a shared source of pride and the happiness of all takes precedence over the ambition of each individual. Utopians do not seek to dominate, they do not launch into senseless wars, because their only rule of life is virtue. ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS BOOKS OF MODERN THOUGHT. Second edition of great rarity published one year after the original of Louvain; It was procured by Guillaume Budé and Thomas Lupset (corrector at Gourmont) and commented by Erasmus and Pierre Gilles. Thomas More (London 1478-1535), humanist, jurist, politician and chancellor, refused to swear an oath to Henry VIII as supreme head of the Anglican Church and to recognise his divorce. He was imprisoned and then beheaded, his head displayed for a year on London Bridge. A precursor of socialism, he was canonised in 1935. Small vertical worm work removing a few letters on 34 leaves (USTC 144673, 6 copies) (Moreau, I.C.P. n°1675) (Gibson, Sir Thomas More, a preliminary bibliography, Yale University, p 5-7, n° 2, 10 copies). Provenances: Handwritten signatures of the period "Hatton" and "Jean de Frainel, abbé de l'abbaye de Chaumousey" from 1520 to 1560.