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Secondary sourcePainting1750 (text originally 1651)

Title Page of Leviathan, 1750 Edition

Unknown engraver · 1750 (text originally 1651)

The engraved title page of a 1750 edition of Hobbes's Leviathan, showing the famous image of the giant sovereign made of many bodies.

The title page of Hobbes's own major work, Leviathan, reprinted decades after his death.

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Engraved title page of Leviathan: a giant crowned figure made of many small human bodies stands over a landscape holding a sword and a crozier. Below, a banner bears the title and 'Written by Tho. Hobbs 1651' among framed scenes of castles, cannon, weapons, and assemblies.
Title page, Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes, 1750 edition (text first published 1651).

About this source

What it is

This is the engraved title page from a 1750 printing of Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan, originally written in 1651. It shows a giant crowned figure made up of many smaller human bodies, holding a sword and a crozier, above a landscape with scenes of war and government.

Why it matters

The image illustrates Hobbes's central idea: that a strong sovereign, made legitimate by the consent of the people who compose its body, is needed to keep peace and prevent chaos. This later edition shows how Hobbes's ideas and striking image continued to be printed and read long after his death.

  • Why do you think the sovereign is drawn as made up of many small people?
  • What do the smaller scenes around the title tell us about the kind of power Hobbes is describing?
  • Why might this image remain popular for printers almost a century after it was first published?

This painting 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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Engraved title page of Hobbes's Leviathan: a giant crowned figure made of many tiny people holds a sword and crozier over a landscape of hills and a city. Below, a central banner bears the title and author's name, flanked by vignettes of castle, church, crown, mitre, cannon, weapons, battle, and a council.Book

Primary source

Leviathan

Thomas Hobbes · 1651

Engraved frontispiece of the 1642 Paris edition of Hobbes's De Cive. Top panel shows a crowded scene of figures in clouds and a fiery landscape with a winged angel and a group of people. Bottom panel has a central banner titled Elementorum Philosophiae Sectio Tertia De Cive with Latin text, flanked by a crowned female figure holding scales labeled Imperium and a figure with a bow and spear labeled Libertas, with a landscape and the word Religio across the middle.Book

Primary source

De Cive

Thomas Hobbes · 1642

Line engraving portrait of Thomas Hobbes, a man with long wavy hair, a large white collar, and dark robes, shown in an oval frame inscribed with his name in Latin. Below is a Latin inscription and the printer's line 'London, Printed for Will. Crooke'.Painting

Secondary source

Portrait of Thomas Hobbes, Line Engraving

Book

Primary source

The Elements of Law

Thomas Hobbes · 1640

Engraved title page reading 'The Workes of Homer Engl: by T: Hobbes', with a bust of Homer above, two armoured warriors with spears flanking the title, and an oval portrait of Hobbes below. Imprint reads London, printed for W. Crooke, 1677.Artifact

Secondary source

Title Page of The Workes of Homer, Translated by Thomas Hobbes

1677

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