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HOBBES, Thomas (1588-1679). Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme, & Power of a Common-Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civill. London: printed for Andrew Crooke, 1651
Details
HOBBES, Thomas (1588-1679). Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme, & Power of a Common-Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civill. London: printed for Andrew Crooke, 1651
Chancery 2o (283 x 185 mm). Collation: etched frontispiece, A4 (title, author's dedication to Francis Godolphin, table of contents, errata, introduction); B-E4 F4(3+ fold-out sheet Table of Subjects of Knowledge) G-Z4 Aa-Bb4 (Part 1 Of Man, Part 2 Of Common-Wealth); Cc-Tt4 (Part 3 Of a Christian Common-Wealth); Uu-Zz4 Aaa-Ccc4 (Part 4 Of the Kingdome of Darknesse); Ddd4 (A Review and Conclusion). Woodcut head-ornament vignette on title. (Some light staining, tiny hole in Y2 affecting 2 letters.) Contemporary English dark calf (rebacked, original gilt back-strip laid down, corners worn). Provenance: Haskell F. Norman (pencil mark "HFN 1082," his sale Christie's New York, Part II, 15 and 16 June 1998, lot 522).
FIRST EDITION OF THE MOST IMPORTANT 17TH-CENTURY ENGLISH WORK OF POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY. Hobbes regarded the state "as a great artificial monster made up of individual men, with an existence which could be traced from its generation through human reason under pressure of human needs to its destruction through civil strife proceeding from human passions. The individual (except to save his own life) should always submit to the State, because any government is better than the anarchy of the natural state" (PMM). Hobbes' gloomy theory of the human condition caused a storm in England and brought him much controversy, but his influence, first on Spinoza, then on Bentham and other political thinkers, has lasted into our own century. The significance of Leviathan has been no less valid for subsequent economic theory.
The celebrated frontispiece "may have contributed to the strong impact of the book" (Schmitt). Previously ascribed to be in the style of W. Hollar, it is now thought to be by Abraham Bosse (ca. 1602-1676), who executed it after lengthy discussions with Hobbes. Macdonald-Hargreaves 42; Pforzheimer 491; PMM 138; Wing H-2246; Norman 1082; See Carl Schmitt Der Leviathan in der Staatslehre des Thomas Hobbes, 1938, p. 26; See Horst Bredekamp, Thomas Hobbes Visuelle Strategien. Der Leviathan: Das Urbild des modernen Staates. Werkillustrationen und Portraits Berlin, 1999, pp. 52.
Chancery 2o (283 x 185 mm). Collation: etched frontispiece, A4 (title, author's dedication to Francis Godolphin, table of contents, errata, introduction); B-E4 F4(3+ fold-out sheet Table of Subjects of Knowledge) G-Z4 Aa-Bb4 (Part 1 Of Man, Part 2 Of Common-Wealth); Cc-Tt4 (Part 3 Of a Christian Common-Wealth); Uu-Zz4 Aaa-Ccc4 (Part 4 Of the Kingdome of Darknesse); Ddd4 (A Review and Conclusion). Woodcut head-ornament vignette on title. (Some light staining, tiny hole in Y2 affecting 2 letters.) Contemporary English dark calf (rebacked, original gilt back-strip laid down, corners worn). Provenance: Haskell F. Norman (pencil mark "HFN 1082," his sale Christie's New York, Part II, 15 and 16 June 1998, lot 522).
FIRST EDITION OF THE MOST IMPORTANT 17TH-CENTURY ENGLISH WORK OF POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY. Hobbes regarded the state "as a great artificial monster made up of individual men, with an existence which could be traced from its generation through human reason under pressure of human needs to its destruction through civil strife proceeding from human passions. The individual (except to save his own life) should always submit to the State, because any government is better than the anarchy of the natural state" (PMM). Hobbes' gloomy theory of the human condition caused a storm in England and brought him much controversy, but his influence, first on Spinoza, then on Bentham and other political thinkers, has lasted into our own century. The significance of Leviathan has been no less valid for subsequent economic theory.
The celebrated frontispiece "may have contributed to the strong impact of the book" (Schmitt). Previously ascribed to be in the style of W. Hollar, it is now thought to be by Abraham Bosse (ca. 1602-1676), who executed it after lengthy discussions with Hobbes. Macdonald-Hargreaves 42; Pforzheimer 491; PMM 138; Wing H-2246; Norman 1082; See Carl Schmitt Der Leviathan in der Staatslehre des Thomas Hobbes, 1938, p. 26; See Horst Bredekamp, Thomas Hobbes Visuelle Strategien. Der Leviathan: Das Urbild des modernen Staates. Werkillustrationen und Portraits Berlin, 1999, pp. 52.