The Library of the Old English Prose Writers, Vol. IX [Volume 9]: Works of Sir Thomas More: Utopia; and History of King Richard III

xxxii, 320 pp. Half binding with marbled boards, marbled page ridges, and marbled endpapers. "Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More,[7][8] was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He was also a Chancellor to Henry VIII, and Lord High Chancellor of England from October 1529 to 16 May 1532.[9] He wrote Utopia, published in 1516[10], about the political system of an imaginary, ideal island nation. More opposed the Protestant Reformation, directing polemics against the theology of Martin Luther, Huldrych Zwingli, John Calvin and William Tyndale. More also opposed King Henry VIII's separation from the Catholic Church, refusing to acknowledge Henry as Supreme Head of the Church of England and the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. After refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy, he was convicted of treason and executed. On his execution, he was reported to have said: "I die the King's good servant, and God's first". Pope Pius XI canonised More in 1935 as a martyr. Pope John Paul II in 2000 declared him the patron saint "of Statesmen and Politicians".[11] Since 1980, the Church of England has remembered More liturgically as a Reformation martyr.[12] Praised by Marx and Engels, the Soviet Union in the early twentieth century honoured him for the purportedly communist attitude toward property rights expressed in Utopia.[13][14][15]" "Utopia (Libellus vere aureus, nec minus salutaris quam festivus, de optimo rei publicae statu deque nova insula Utopia,[1] "A little, true book, not less beneficial than enjoyable, about how things should be in the new island Utopia") is a work of fiction and socio-political satire by Thomas More (1478–1535), written in Latin and published in 1516. The book is a frame narrative primarily depicting a fictional island society and its religious, social, and political customs. Many aspects of More's description of Utopia are reminiscent of life in monasteries.[2]" "Between 1512 and 1519 More worked on a History of King Richard III, which he never finished but which was published after his death. The History is a Renaissance biography, remarkable more for its literary skill and adherence to classical precepts than for its historical accuracy.[97] Some consider it an attack on royal tyranny, rather than on Richard III himself or the House of York.[98] More uses a more dramatic writing style than had been typical in medieval chronicles; Richard III is limned as an outstanding, archetypal tyrant – however, More was only seven years old when Richard III was killed at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 so he had no first-hand in-depth knowledge of him. The History of King Richard III was written and published in both English and Latin, each written separately, and with information deleted from the Latin edition to suit a European readership.[citation needed] It greatly influenced William Shakespeare's play Richard III. Contemporary historians attribute the unflattering portraits of Richard III in both works to both authors' allegiance to the reigning Tudor dynasty that wrested the throne from Richard III in the Wars of the Roses.[citation needed] More's version barely mentions King Henry VII, the first Tudor king, perhaps because he had persecuted his father, Sir John More.[citation needed] Clements Markham suggests that the actual author of the work was Archbishop Morton and that More was simply copying or perhaps translating the work.[99][100]."