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635 | TO JOHN FROBEN .. 57
amicitiam. Ceterum vbi video doctos vno ore omneis meo subscribere
suffragio ac vehementius etiam diuinum hominis ingenium suspicere,
non quod plus ament sed quod plus cernant, serio plaudo meae sen¬
tentiae, nec verebor posthac quod sentio palam eloqui. Quid tandem
non praestitisset admirabilis ista naturae felicitas, si hoc ingenium
instituisset Italia? si totum Musarum sacris vacaret, si ad iustam
frugem ac velut autumnum suum maturuisset? Epigrammata lusit
adolescens admodum ac pleraque puer. Britanniam suam nunquam
egressus est, nisi semel atque iterum, Principis sui nomine legatione
fungens apud Flandros. . Preter rem vxoriam, preter curas domesticas,
preter publici muneris functionem et causarum vndas, tot tantisque
regni negociis distrahitur vt mireris esse ocium vel cogitandi de
libris.
Proinde misimus ad te Progymnasmata illius et Vtopiam, vt, si
videtur, tuis excusa typis orbi posteritatique commendentur: quando
ea est tuae officine autoritas vt liber vel hoc nomine placeat eruditis,
si cognitum sit e Frobenianis edibus prodisse. Bene vale cum optimo
socero, coniuge suauissima ac mellitissimis liberis. Erasmum filiolum
mihi tecum communem, inter litteras natum, fac optimis litteris
instituendum cures. Louamii.
20, Hrasmum | Froben’s younger son,
born between 4 Nov. 1515 (cf. Q. p. 58)
and 28 Feb. 1516, if Erasmus is
accurate in saying (1. p. 9. 26) that he
was six when the Colloguiorwm Formulae
(Basle, Froben, March 1522) were
dedicated to him. In a De Con¬
structione (Ep. 341) printed for him by
his father at this time, and in an
Alphabetum Graecum of March 1518, his
mame appears as John Erasmus
Froben; but by 1522 the ‘form
Erasmius had been adopted (cf. rv.
546 n.). His godfathers were Erasmus
and Beatus Rhenanus; and at his
confirmation, before March 1522,
Capito was his sponsor. The Basle
Library has a copy of Froben’s edition
of the Collog. Formulae, (c. Aug.) 1522,
printed for him on vellum (AN. VL. 4).
For another Froben edition, Aug. 1524,
Erasmus remodelled the preface. In
June 1522 the boy was sent to Freiburg
to be taught by Heresbach (Basle MS. G.
II. 29 : letters of Froben to Bon. Amer¬
bach (24 June?) and 6 July 1522; cf.
Lond. xx. 38, LB. 636). In March 1527
he was at school under L. Carinus at
Coblenz (Lond. xxi. 53, LB. 853: and
Jortin ii. 456) ; and a dispute over the
the causes of Erasmus’ quarrel with
Carinus (Th. v. Liebenau in Kath.
Schweizer-Blatter, NF. ii. 1886, p. 344).
After Froben’s death Erasmus felt
responsibility for his godson (Lond.
xxviii 1, LB. 1084, 1251 x), and had
him at Freiburg in the autumn of
1529. In Oct. the boy’s guardians
recalled him to go to Paris (Basle MS.
D. IV. rS 309 v2, 322 vo); but were
persuaded to send him to Goclen at
Louvain (Lond. xxvi. 51, LB. 1079:
Q. pp. 59-61). He was there in Aug.
1530, but in Nov. 1531 was at Lille,
learning French (Basle MS. Goclenii
Epist. ff. 6, 9); Erasmus’ offer to take
the boy for the summer of 1531, and
advice to make him a scriniarius
(Horawitz ii. 9) being both declined.
By Nov. 1534 he had returned to Basle
(Basle MS. D. IV. 18. 444 ; ef. Q. p. 45).
On 23 Aug. 1536 (BRE. 296, 300) he
married Katharine Weckhart; and
then joined his stepfather, John
Herwagen, in the printing business,
vols. 3 and 4 of the Basle Galen, 1538,
and the Paroemiae of Apostolius, 1538,
being from their press. In Jan. 1542
he divorced his wife for adultery with
Herwagen; and by Feb. 1545 appears
to have married again. See Heitz and
Bernoulli, Basler Büchermarken, 1895,
PP. XX, XXVIL, REX.
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