The books on the shelf behind the scholar have inscriptions relating to his recently published works: Novum Testament[um] and Hieronymus refer to Erasmus’s editions of the New Testament and St Jerome; Lovkianos refers to Erasmus’s and More’s collaboration in translating Lucian’s Dialogues; and Hor, which originally read Mor and must have been altered during an early restoration, spells the first letters of the Englishman’s name and refers to the ‘Praise of Folly’ (Encomium Moriae), a satirical essay written whilst Erasmus stayed with More in Bucklersbury in London in 1509. The words on the paper are a paraphrase of St Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, the handwriting is a close imitation of Erasmus’s own hand, and the reed pen was Erasmus’s favourite writing tool.

“To read without writing is to sleep.” — St. Jerome