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Primary sourceArtifact1651

Title-page to Hobbes's Leviathan

Abraham Bosse · 1651

The 1651 engraved title-page for Hobbes's Leviathan, printed by Andrew Cooke, allegorically depicting civil and church authority.

This 1651 title-page, printed in Hobbes's lifetime, illustrates his theory of sovereign authority in Leviathan.

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Engraved title-page of Hobbes's Leviathan (1651): a crowned giant whose body is made of many small human figures rises over hills and a city, holding a sword and a crozier. Title text is in a central cartouche.
Abraham Bosse, title-page to Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan, London: Andrew Cooke, 1651.

About this source

What it is

This is the title-page engraving made by Abraham Bosse for the 1651 London printing of Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan, published by Andrew Cooke. It shows a crowned giant, formed of many human figures, rising from a mountain above a city, holding a sword in one hand and a crozier in the other. The title is written on a cloth banner, surrounded by ten small framed scenes.

Why it matters

This title-page was printed during Hobbes's own lifetime and attached directly to his most influential work. The ten surrounding images — including a castle, crown, cannon, battle scene, church, bishop's mitre, and an assembly of magistrates — illustrate the different forms of civil and religious power that Hobbes argued should be united under one sovereign ruler to keep peace.

Look closer

  • What do the ten small framed images around the border represent, and how do they relate to Hobbes's ideas about government?
  • Why might the artist choose to combine symbols of both church and state into a single giant figure?
  • What does this title-page tell us about how books were marketed and explained to readers in the 1600s?

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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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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