{"product_id":"1677-homer-the-iliads-and-odysses-of-homer-translated-by-thomas-hobbes","title":"1677 THOMAS HOBBES - HOMER. The Iliads and Odysses of Homer. Rare Anti-Monarchy Works","description":"\u003cp\u003eA very nicely preserved second edition [first thus] of Hobbes' significant translations of Homer. \u003cspan\u003eHis version of the Odyssey was first published in 1675 and then issued here with Iliad as well. Significantly, he completed his work on \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"match\"\u003eHomer\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e toward the end of his life, when censorship meant he no longer had other means of expressing his views in print. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIt is believed that his \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"match\"\u003eHomer\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e continued with the arguments of his famed Leviathan, one of the most important works of political philosophy in the modern era. Originally written while fleeing from the unrest in England as a reaction to the English Civil war, \u003cspan class=\"match\"\u003eHobbes\u003c\/span\u003e criticizes both parliament and the divine right of kings. \u003cspan class=\"match\"\u003eHobbes\u003c\/span\u003e portrays the government as a giant monster made up of individual men and allows criticism of the \"monster\" based on its keeping or not keeping of the \"social contract\" with the people. This idea of the resposibility of the monarchy was picked up by Thomas Paine and John Locke, and fairly naturally leading to the concept of rule not by an individual, but \"of the people, by the people, and for the people.\" We can see Hobbes at work here in his translations of Homer, for example, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003edepicting the non-royal, Agamemnon, as a a far more worthy ruler in translation than in Homer's original work, i.e. basing a person's right to rule on their fulfillment of the social contract rather than divine or familial right.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA nearly identical example sold at auction in 2020 for $3,750.00 with commissions. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHomer; Thomas Hobbes [Preface and Trans.]. The Iliads and Odysses of Homer. Translated Out of the Greek into English by Tho: Hobbes of Malmsbury. With a large Preface concerning the Vertues of an Heroick Poem; Written by the Translator. The Second Edition. London. Printed for Will. Crook, at the Green Dragon without Temple-Barre. 1677. 12 + 384 + 301pp.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA generally tidy example of the rare second edition, containing the oft-lacking engraved title at the frontis before the general title. A second engraved title before \u003cem\u003eThe Odyssey\u003c\/em\u003e is mentioned in bibliographical sources, but we trance not a single example in which it is included. \u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Aptos',sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Specs Fine Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43141092409380,"sku":null,"price":1450.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0093\/3910\/9435\/files\/01-08-2026SpecsFineBooks.jpg?v=1767979866","url":"https:\/\/specsfinebooks.com\/products\/1677-homer-the-iliads-and-odysses-of-homer-translated-by-thomas-hobbes","provider":"Specs Fine Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}