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Title Page of De eerste beginselen van een burger-staat (1675)

Unknown author · 1675

The engraved title page of a 1675 Dutch edition of Hobbes's De Cive, featuring allegorical female figures.

A Dutch-language title page of Hobbes's De Cive, showing the international reach of his political writing.

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Engraved title page of a 1675 Dutch book, 'De eerste beginselen van een burger-staat' by Thomas Hobbes. A blindfolded seated woman holds a cross and a torch, with rays of light behind her. A woman with a hat holds a sword-like staff on the left, and a crowned woman holds a staff on the right. Text reads 'Amsterdam, Anno 1675'.
Title page of De eerste beginselen van een burger-staat, Dutch edition of Hobbes's De Cive, 1675.

About this source

What it is

This is the title page of a 1675 Dutch translation of Thomas Hobbes's De Cive, published in Amsterdam. The engraving shows a seated, partially veiled woman holding a cross and a burning object, with rays of light behind her, flanked by two other allegorical women—one wearing a hat and holding a staff, the other crowned and holding a sceptre.

Why it matters

This Dutch edition shows how Hobbes's ideas about government and citizenship spread across Europe and were translated into different languages. The elaborate religious and allegorical imagery reflects the serious themes of authority, faith, and civil order that Hobbes explored in the text.

Look closer

  • What might the blindfolded or veiled figure represent?
  • Why do you think the publisher used religious symbols for a political book?
  • How does this title page compare to other European editions of the same work?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Thomas Hobbes on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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