{"product_id":"thomas-more-utopia-oxford-1895-125293","title":"The Utopia of Sir Thomas More","description":"A handsome copy in crushed red morocco by Bayntun Riviere of the most important philosophical text of the English Renaissance, which coined the term 'utopia'.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe text of this Clarendon Press edition follows the first English translation made by Ralph Robinson (1520-1577) for the private use of his friend, George Tadlow, who was a City haberdasher. A loose rendering, Robinson initially resisted calls for publication before the work was printed in 1551. Nevertheless, his translation is now regarded 'among the treasures of our literature' (Arber) as an imaginative piece of sixteenth-century prose.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe tale begins when More encounters the fictional character Raphael Hythloday, a traveller who has just returned from voyages with Amerigo Vespucci. Hythloday tells More of a distant island called Utopia, where all property is held in common and gold and silver are used not as currency but as the material for making shackles and chamber pots. However, all is not as it seems, and the paradoxes in the names of Hythloday ('the nonsense speaker') and Utopia ('nowhere') reveal a more complex story.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e8vo (22 x 14.5 cm); photographic facsimile plates, occasional light spotting; crushed red morocco by Bayntun Riviere, gilt spine in 6 compartments, slightly faded, all edges gilt, very good; c, 347, [1]pp.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"MORE, Sir Thomas.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57677265469815,"sku":"125293","price":450.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4694\/1233\/files\/125293_01.jpg?v=1793743880","url":"https:\/\/shapero.com\/products\/thomas-more-utopia-oxford-1895-125293","provider":"Shapero Rare Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}