Erasmus: The Right To Heresy
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good , price clipped
Markings: No markings
A masterwork of biographical writing, Stefan Zweig's Erasmus: The Right to Heresy chronicles the life and intellectual legacy of Desiderius Erasmus, the great Renaissance humanist who dared to champion reason, tolerance, and the freedom of thought against the violent dogmatism of the Reformation era. Zweig presents Erasmus not merely as a historical figure but as a timeless symbol of the civilized, independent mind caught between two warring factions — the rigid orthodoxy of Rome and the fierce revolutionary zeal of Martin Luther — refusing to surrender his conscience to either side. Written with passionate elegance and unmistakable urgency, the biography argues that Erasmus's insistence on moderation and intellectual liberty was not weakness, as his contemporaries charged, but a profound moral courage that history has been slow to honor. Zweig illustrates, with striking relevance, how the forces of fanaticism and ideological extremism threaten to crush the humane, reasoning individual — a warning that resonates far beyond the sixteenth century. Rich in psychological insight and written in Zweig's characteristically luminous prose, this portrait of Erasmus stands as both a tribute to a misunderstood genius and a deeply personal meditation on the price of intellectual independence.
Author: Stefan Zweig
Format: Hardback
Published: 1951, Cassell and Company Limited
Genre: Biography
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good , price clipped
Markings: No markings
A masterwork of biographical writing, Stefan Zweig's Erasmus: The Right to Heresy chronicles the life and intellectual legacy of Desiderius Erasmus, the great Renaissance humanist who dared to champion reason, tolerance, and the freedom of thought against the violent dogmatism of the Reformation era. Zweig presents Erasmus not merely as a historical figure but as a timeless symbol of the civilized, independent mind caught between two warring factions — the rigid orthodoxy of Rome and the fierce revolutionary zeal of Martin Luther — refusing to surrender his conscience to either side. Written with passionate elegance and unmistakable urgency, the biography argues that Erasmus's insistence on moderation and intellectual liberty was not weakness, as his contemporaries charged, but a profound moral courage that history has been slow to honor. Zweig illustrates, with striking relevance, how the forces of fanaticism and ideological extremism threaten to crush the humane, reasoning individual — a warning that resonates far beyond the sixteenth century. Rich in psychological insight and written in Zweig's characteristically luminous prose, this portrait of Erasmus stands as both a tribute to a misunderstood genius and a deeply personal meditation on the price of intellectual independence.