Thomas Hobbes - OPERA - 1668

Thomas Hobbes' Works

Tomo I e II (Amsterdam, Joannem Blaeu, 1668)

Thomas Hobbes Malmesburiensis – Opera Philosophica, Quæ Latine scripsit, Omnia (parte del secondo e del primo dei tomi delle Opera Varia).

21 × 16 cm.
 Pages: 44; 146; (8), 261 pp.


Contains:
- Problemata Physica (with 2 folded plates)
- Examinatio et Emendatio Mathematicae Hodiernae (with 1 folded plate)
- Elementorum Philosophiae Sectio Prima – De Corpore (with 13 folded plates)

a lot of engraved figures in the text.

Frontispiece restored, margins repaired and signs of wear (some restored with plates added at the end). One very faded plate. Missing portrait (common in miscellanies of tomes I-II). Overall in good condition for a 17th-century volume, intact and legible text. Contemporary vellum binding.

This is one of the fundamental Latin editions of Hobbes' philosophical works, printed in Amsterdam (where the author had to go to publish freely). It includes central texts of his thought:

- Natural philosophy and physics (De Corpore and Problemata Physica), with discussions on vacuum, motion, gravity, geometry and natural phenomena.
- The critique of contemporary mathematics (Examinatio…), directed especially at John Wallis.

These works represent the core of Hobbes' mechanical and materialist philosophy, which profoundly influenced European scientific and political thought in the Seventeenth Century.

The 1668 Opera Philosophica is the standard Latin edition of Hobbes' works, curated by the author himself in later life and printed by the famous typographer Joan Blaeu. It is a milestone of modern philosophy, gathering in a single corpus the foundations of his physics, geometry, and theory of knowledge.

Copies with all the folded plates are very rare on the market.

This miscellany of Tomus I and II, with its rich iconographic apparatus (16 folded plates in total + figures in the text), represents an important opportunity for collectors of philosophy, science and early books. The presence of numerous mathematical and physical plates further increases its documentary and collecting value.

Ideal for auctions of rare books and major 17th-century philosophy collections.