Sébastian BRANDT. La nef des folz du monde. In-folio, ivy-green morocco, triple fillet, 5-ribbed spine decorated in the same style, interior lace (Koehler). Bechtel, 101/B-383 // BMC, VIII-178 // Brunet, I-1206 // Fairfax Murray, 66 // Hain, I-3754. (6f.)-CXIX-(3f.) / a6, b8, c-x6 / 42 lines in 2 columns, gothic style / 195 x 263 mm / title ruled in red ink. The first French incunabula edition of this extremely rare and valuable work was a huge success. Originally written in German and published in 1494, the work was translated into Latin by Jacques Locher, then revised by Brandt and translated into French by Pierre Rivière. The author, a jurisconsult and poet, was born in Strasbourg in 1458. He studied in Basel, where he successively obtained a bachelor's degree, a licentiate, a doctorate in law, a professorship and, in 1492, became dean of the faculty. He then returned to his native town to teach jurisprudence, also devoting himself to the study of literature, and became one of the glories and lights of the city, where he died in 1521. His masterpiece, La Nef des fous (The Ship of Fools), is a satirical poem in which he explores the causes and sources of madness. By madmen, the author meant above all sinners, and for him, bringing them back to wisdom meant bringing them back to God. So he reviews all the vices and invites all the vicious to enter his vessel. There are greedy people, lustful people, litigious people, dancers, rabid bibliophiles... all sailing at random from the land of Cocagne, drinking and singing on unknown seas. The adventure on the ship is made all the crazier by the fact that it was built by madmen, that the bow takes the place of the stern, that the rudder is upside down, that the captain has been put in the bilge and the cook on the mainmast. The work is lavishly illustrated with woodcuts copied from the Basle edition of 1494, including a large woodcut on the title, repeated on folio 115, and 115 smaller engravings showing all sorts of madmen and women from all classes of society, all dressed in courtly madman costumes with bonnets, long donkey ears and bells. The last leaf, blank on one side, bears the printer's mark on the reverse, which appears to be often missing. Black spotting to second board, minor wear to corners, major repairs to lateral margins of 4 leaves (title, n6, last 2 leaves), angular repair to leaf k6, leaf v2 trimmed in lateral margin with loss of one letter. Provenance: Jacques Richard (stamp on leaves a2 and b1: Ex Bibliotheca J. Richard D.M.), Charles Butler (label From the collection of Charles Butler, I, 5-12 April 1911, no. 212) and Lucien Gougy (I, 5-8 March 1934, no. 23).