Leviathan
Thomas Hobbes, 1651
HOBBES, Thomas (1588-1679). Leviathan; or The Matter, Forme, and Power of a Commonwealth Ecclesiasticall and Civill. London: Andrew Crooke, 1651.
A very fresh copy of the first edition, first issue, with head ornament on title-page. Hobbes's landmark work "produced a fermentation in English thought not surpassed until the advent of Darwinism" (Pforzheimer). It unleashed a storm of controversy and was in such demand that when Pepys wished to buy a copy, he had to buy it second-hand and pay almost four times the original published price. MacDonald and Hargreaves 42, Pforzheimer 491, PMM 138.
Folio (290 x 175mm). Engraved additional title page, folding plate (creasing to lower corner of several early leaves, dampstain to upper margin of final gatherings). Contemporary calf (rebacked, with most of original spine laid down). Provenance: deleted inscription to front endpaper - Christie’s, 25 June 1997, lot 180.
Leviathan
Thomas Hobbes, 1651
HOBBES, Thomas (1588-1679). Leviathan; or The Matter, Forme, and Power of a Commonwealth Ecclesiasticall and Civill. London: Andrew Crooke, 1651.
A very fresh copy of the first edition, first issue, with head ornament on title-page. Hobbes's landmark work "produced a fermentation in English thought not surpassed until the advent of Darwinism" (Pforzheimer). It unleashed a storm of controversy and was in such demand that when Pepys wished to buy a copy, he had to buy it second-hand and pay almost four times the original published price. MacDonald and Hargreaves 42, Pforzheimer 491, PMM 138.
Folio (290 x 175mm). Engraved additional title page, folding plate (creasing to lower corner of several early leaves, dampstain to upper margin of final gatherings). Contemporary calf (rebacked, with most of original spine laid down). Provenance: deleted inscription to front endpaper - Christie’s, 25 June 1997, lot 180.
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