Die eerste sullen die laetste, die laetste die eerste sijn.With: (2) [JORIS, David]. Een twesprake tusschen man unde wijff, namelick Christus un[de] de gemeente oder verlorene mensch.[Rostock, Ludwig Dietz, ca. 1550/52]. 8vo (15.5 x 11 cm). With gothic initials and a vine-leaf ornament. Set in schwabacher types with incidental and fraktur. Vellum (ca. 1680?).

[211], [1 blank]; [71], [1 blank] pp.Rare first editions of two important works by David Joris, in the original Dutch, his Die eerste sullen die laetste ... sijn being his most extensive work except for his famous tWonder boeck. The title alludes to Matthew 19:30: "many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first", a message that no doubt appealed to the poor and oppressed. The social critic John Ruskin made a similar allusion (to Matthew 20:14) in the title of his 1860 Unto this last.Probably born in or near Bruges, Joris moved in 1524 to Delft, where he quickly gained notoriety as a dangerous religious radical and joined the Anabaptists in 1533, but in the wake of the disastrous Anabaptist rebellion at Münster in 1534/35 he spoke out against radicals in the movement and urged non-violence. In the 1540s and 50s he wrote and published extensively, mostly short spiritual and mystical works, but continued to arouse controversy and had to flee in 1543/44 to Basel where he lived the rest of his life. He devoted himself to writing, emphasizing personal, internal faith above dogma and ceremony, inspiring a broad public as well as leading figures such as Michael Servetus. With an owner's name "v. Wicht" on the title-page, with a further note in a different hand. With some water stains in the first 32 leaves and some small worm holes in the upper inside corner of the last 9 leaves, slightly affecting the text, but otherwise in very good condition. The spine is dirty but the binding is still good and the paste-downs have not been pasted down. Rare first edition of one of Joris's most extensive works: a guiding light and comfort for oppressed or impoverished Anabaptists.l Hillerbrand 3137 & 3149; KVK & WorldCat (2 & 5 copies); STCN (3 copies of each); TB 1715 & 4996 (6 copies of each, incl. the 3 in STCN); Valkema Blouw, "Printers to the "arch-heretic" David Joris", in: Quaerendo, 21 (1991), pp. 163-209, items 191 & 193 at p. 207; VD16 ZV31372 & ZV31373 (1 copy of each).