Milestones of Science Books

HOBBES, Thomas; THUCYDIDES.

Eight bookes of the Peloponnesian Warre written by Thucydides the sonne of Olorus. Interpreted with faith and diligence immediately out of the Greeke by Thomas Hobbes secretary to ye late Earle of Deuonshire.

London: Henry Seile, 1629.

1st Edition. Hardcover. Folio - over 12 - 15" tall. Near Fine. Item #002856

Folio (325 x 210 mm). [34], 536 (i.e. 535), [11] pp., including engraved title page by Thomas Cecill, two engraved plates, three engraved maps (one folding, two bouble-page), decorative headpieces, tailpieces and initial letters, text in lined border, bound without the final blank 3z6. Signatures: [pi], A⁴, (a)-(c)⁴, B-Z⁴, Aa-Zz⁴, Aaa-Yyy⁴, Zzz⁶ (-Zzz6). Contemporary speckled calf, old rebacking, spine with 6 raised bands, gilt-lettered red morocco label and ruling in gilt, boards with ruling in blind (rubbing to extremities, corners bumped, short split in upper hinge). Light marginal browning to text, occasional very minor spotting, preliminary leaf A1 soiled and chipped at blank corners, gathering (a) little frayed at fore-margin, paper flaw in leaf 3M1 not affecting text, closed tear in folding map without loss, two leaves browned stronger. Provenance: Robert Biddulph Phillipps (with his bookplates to front pastedown). A near fine and wide-margined copy. ----

STC 24058; ESTC S117705; Pforzheimer 493. FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE, of Hobbes' translation, his first book, and the first English translation from the Greek. "In his verse autobiography Hobbes explained that Thucydides was his favourite ancient historian; what apparently attracted him was the cool dissection of political motivation and the 'realist' approach to power, together with the peculiarly Thucydidean analysis of the role of rhetoric in political debate. This translation was an important achievement, establishing Hobbes at a stroke as one of the leading Grecianists of his day. Hobbes also drew the elaborate map of ancient Greece which accompanied the text" (Noel Malcolm in ONDB).
"Thucydides' history of the Peloponnesian war (431-404 B.C.) is renowned as much for establishing historical methods and standards as for its record of one of the most important events in Greek history. Thucydides states that he limited his sources to either personal knowledge or close scrutiny of the evidence of others. In seeking to set forth the facts of the war untainted by hearsay, he created a lasting record which was, as he himself called it, 'a possession for ever'." (PMM 102). - Visit our website for additional images and information.

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