Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme, & Power of a Common-Wealth, Ecclesiasticall and Civill. London, Printed for Andrew Ckooke [sic] , 1651. [bound with]: An Historical Narration Concerning Heresie, And the Punishment thereof. London, Printed in the Year 1680. lst work: Folio in 4's; pp. [vi], 248, 247-256, 261-394 [i.e. 396? (A-Z [4], Aa-Zz[4], Aaa-Ddd [4], extra engraved title, 1 folding table; 2nd work: folio in 2's; p. 18 (A-D2, E[3]), 17th-century full calf expertly restored and sympathetically re-backed; paper restored at margin of engraved title and lower corners of prelims; couple of tiny, insigni?cant wormholes at lower gutter of leaves, not affecting the text; burn-hole on Bb_4], touching two letters, and small hole on Ccc[4], affecti

Wing H2247 and H2238; Printing and the Mind of Man 138; Pforzheimer: 491 (note); vide Grolier, Wither to Prior II: 454 (no mention of this issue); Krlzss 830; Macdonald & Hargreaves (1952): 42. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) was an English philosopher and graduate of Magdalen College. For many years a tutor in the Cavendish family, Hobbes took great interest in mathematics, physics and the contemporary rationalism. In 1640, after his political writings had brought him into disfavor with the parliamentarians, he went to France, where he became tutor to the exiled Prince Charles, not returning to England until 1651/1652. In this work, Hobbes developed his political philosophy. He argued from a mechanistic view that life is simply the motions of the organism and that man is, by nature, a sel?shly individualistic animal at constant war with all other men. In a state of nature, men are equal in their self-seeking and live out lives which are "nasty, brutish and short". Fear of violent death is the principal motive which causes men to create a state by contracting to surrender their natural rights and to submit to the authority of a sovereign who, in turn, is absolute and not subject to the law. Also, temporal power supersedes ecclesiastical power. The second work included in this volume pertains to heresies and other offenses against religion. It was written during the early Restoration, when Hobbes had feared being tried for heresy, but was published only in 1680, shortly after Hobbes had died, and when heresy was no longer a capital offence. There are generally assumed to be three "issues" of Leviathan, based on title decorations - the 'Head', the 'Bear' and the 'Ornaments' issues, (or editions). The 'Head' is generally assumed to be the ?rst, with the 'Bear' and the 'Ornament' being later "pirated" editions, without input by Hobbes. But this analysis of the printing history is called into question in a de?nitive work published recently by Karl Schuhmann, late of the University of Utrecht and G. Rogers, formerly at Keele University. "Leviathan" was entered into the Stationers' Registers on January 20, 1650/51 by Crooke while Hobbes was still living in Paris. Schuhmann and Rogers seek to demonstrate, by an analysis of the various texts, that the traditional assumptions are incorrect, and that all three editions dated 1651 contain corrections and changes by Hobbes himself.…