Initial printing of Voltaire’s Candide

Open book that on the righthand page has an inscription by Nella Larsen to Regina and William Andrews dated 1929 and describing her book as a “tale of pride, prejudice, and ‘passing’”

Nella Larsen’s Passing

First edition of Thomas More’s Utopia; book is open to two pages: Hans Holbein the Younger’s brother, Ambrosius, designed a woodcut illustration on the verso of the title page, facing a table of the 22-letter Utopian alphabet

Photograph by Robert Kato

Thomas More (1478–1535)
First edition of Libellus vere aureus nec Minus Salutaris Quam Festivus de optimo reip. statu, deq; nova Insula Utopia
Louvain: Arte Theodorici Martini, 1516
Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature

First edition of Libellus vere aureus nec Minus Salutaris Quam Festivus de optimo reip. statu, deq; nova Insula Utopia

Dreams of a just and peaceful community date back to antiquity, but the most celebrated vision of a perfect community—a utopia—was imagined by Sir Thomas More in the early 16th century. Without private property, Utopians work no more than six hours a day—though their economy is made possible only by the enslavement of criminals, foreigners, and adulterers. Hans Holbein the Younger’s brother, Ambrosius, designed this woodcut on the verso of the title page, facing a table of the 22-letter Utopian alphabet. Scholars remain divided about whether More intended to praise or satirize the society he envisioned; the name “utopia” derives from two identically pronounced Greek words: eu-topos (meaning “good place”) and ou-topos (meaning “no place” or “nowhere”).

Holding Division: Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature

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