A decorative woodcut headpiece consisting of a series of three circular medallions filled with intricate symmetrical floral and scrollwork designs.

THOMAS MORE TO PETER GILLES, SENDING GREETINGS original: "Thomas Morus Petro Aegidio S. D." The abbreviation S.D. stands for "Salutem Dicit," a formal Latin greeting meaning "sends health" or "sends greetings."

A large decorative historiated initial 'P', intricately engraved with floral vines and foliage.I am almost ashamed, my dearest Peter Gilles, Peter Gilles (c. 1486–1533) was a humanist scholar and the town clerk of Antwerp; he was a close friend of both More and Erasmus. to send you this little book about the Utopian commonwealth after nearly a year, when I have no doubt you expected it within a month and a half. Since, as you know, I was spared the labor of invention in this work, and I did not have to give any thought to its arrangement; I only had to repeat those things which I heard Raphael Raphael Hythlodaeus, the fictional traveler who describes the island of Utopia. narrating while we were together. For that reason, there was no cause for me to labor over the style of the writing, especially since his speech could not have been highly polished, seeing as it was, first of all, sudden and extemporaneous, and secondly, the speech of a man who, as you know, is not... The sentence is interrupted by the page break; More is about to explain that Raphael is more skilled in Greek than in Latin.

Signature mark identifying the second leaf of the first gathering of the printed book.