Thomas Hobbes - OPERA - 1668

Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury – Philosophical Works, written in Latin, All (part of the second and first volumes of the 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)
Numerous figures incised in the text.

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

This is one of the fundamental Latin editions of Hobbes’ philosophical works, printed in Amsterdam (where the author had to turn 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 in particular at John Wallis.

These works represent the core of Hobbes’ mechanical and materialist philosophy, which profoundly influenced European scientific and political thought of the seventeenth century.

The Opera Philosophica of 1668 is the standard Latin collective edition of Hobbes’ works, compiled by the author himself in later life and printed by the renowned printer 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 Tomo 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 old books. The presence of numerous mathematical and physical plates further increases its documentary and collecting value.

Ideal for auctions of old books and important 17th-century philosophy collections.