The _Adagia_, the first of the books of Erasmus which brought him into fame, was originally printed in Paris in 1500. Drummond is of opinion that this first edition was put together hurriedly for the purpose of recruiting the exhausted finances of its author by means of a publication which was “sure to sell.”[96] It seems evident that Erasmus considered the receipts from its sale important, but he fails to mention the amount actually realised or the nature of the several publishing arrangements under which it was published. Several references give the impression, however, that the author himself retained the ownership of his Paris edition. He writes in 1504 to Colet, Dean of St. Paul’s, asking the Dean to look up for him the matter of one hundred copies of the _Adagia_ sent to London three years back, for “which he had received no returns.” He understands the copies have all been sold, and concludes, not unnaturally, that “somebody must have got the money.”[97] He makes no later reference to the business, and we may therefore hope that the books were finally paid for. While it is certain that Erasmus secured considerable sums for the sale of the _Adagia_, and, later, from the _Encomium Moriæ_, it is equally clear that during all the earlier portion of his life he was in continued need of money, and in addition to accepting with expectant gratitude presents from various friends, he found occasion for frequent applications for gifts to other friends and to possible patrons. From the point of view of to-day, many of these letters appear to be seriously lacking in the dignity and self-respect which ought to have characterised a great author and an intellectual leader. It would however be very absurd to arrive at a judgment in the matter from the standpoint of the nineteenth century, when from the vantage-ground of an assured copyright protection, authors are able to dictate terms to publishers and readers. In applying to people of wealth for means with which to continue or extend his studies, Erasmus feels evidently that he is asking help not so much for himself personally, as for the literature and scholarship of which he is the representative. It is an appeal for the endowment of research. He appears also to have possessed no capacity for keeping a balance-sheet, or for a business-like management of his resources, and when money did come into his hands, it disappeared very rapidly. It is to be remembered that while he was willing to beg, and was ready for the sake of financial aid to write flattering letters to possible patrons, he appears never to have been willing to sacrifice for the favour of such patrons any measure of conviction or of consistency. On various occasions he put to one side opportunities for gain or for advancement which involved as conditions what seemed to him to be a sacrifice of personal independence or of honestly held opinions. In fact, excepting in this matter of subsidies from patrons, Erasmus may fairly claim to have