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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
Chancery 2o (269 x 180 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. (Slightest soiling to title-page.) Contemporary English mottled calf (rebacked, corners repaired); half morocco slipcase. Provenance: John William Whittaker, St. John's College, Cambridge (engraved bookplate) -- Mary Arms Edmonds, New York (pencil signature on front free endpaper dated 1943) -- purchased from John F. Fleming, New York, 20 January 1969.
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 frontispiece shows the giant composite figure of Leviathan rising above a townscape and surrounding hills, smaller scenes include a battle, an ecclesiastical court, a castle, a church, and other sacred and secular emblems; the etching is very much in the style of W. Hollar. Macdonald-Hargreaves 42; Norman 1082; Pforzheimer 491; PMM 138; Wing H-2246. A FINE CRISP COPY.
Chancery 2o (269 x 180 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. (Slightest soiling to title-page.) Contemporary English mottled calf (rebacked, corners repaired); half morocco slipcase. Provenance: John William Whittaker, St. John's College, Cambridge (engraved bookplate) -- Mary Arms Edmonds, New York (pencil signature on front free endpaper dated 1943) -- purchased from John F. Fleming, New York, 20 January 1969.
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 frontispiece shows the giant composite figure of Leviathan rising above a townscape and surrounding hills, smaller scenes include a battle, an ecclesiastical court, a castle, a church, and other sacred and secular emblems; the etching is very much in the style of W. Hollar. Macdonald-Hargreaves 42; Norman 1082; Pforzheimer 491; PMM 138; Wing H-2246. A FINE CRISP COPY.