[38] iii.², 1837. The approximate date is fixed by a reference to the death of the Bishop of Besançon, Francis Busleiden, on the twenty-third of August, 1502, in whom Erasmus says he had the highest hopes.
[39] Third ed., 1887.
[40] iii.¹, 12.
[41] iii.¹, 41.
[42] iii.¹, 451.
[43] iii.¹, 42-F.
[44] The Life of Sir Thomas More, by his great-grandson, Cresacre More, 1828, p. 93. This life is largely made up from earlier sources.
[45] The earliest known letter of Erasmus to More (iii.¹, 55), a mere note, bears date Oxford, Oct. 28, 1499. It refers to former correspondence, and Mr. Seebohm, anxious to save the anecdote of the dinner, is inclined to imagine an even earlier date and, of course, a place other than Oxford. My impression is that the date is correct, that Erasmus heard of More first at Oxford, then began to correspond with him, and out of this correspondence saved only the little note in question.
[46] In Catalogus omnium Erasmi Rot. lucubrationum ipso autore. Basil, 1524, i., ad init.
[47] iii.¹, 56.