The first, Humane Nature, Of the Fundamental Elements of Policy. Being a Discovery of the Faculties, Acts and Passions of the Soul of Man, from their Original Causes, according to such Philosophical Principles as are not commonly known, or asserted. The second, De Corpore Politico. Or the Elements of Law, Moral and Politick, with Discourses upon several Heads, as of the Law of Nature, Oaths and Covenants; several kinds of Governments, with the Changes and Revolutions of them. The third, Of Liberty and Necessity; Wherein all Controversie, concerning Predestination, Election, Free-will, Grace, Merits, Reprobation, is fully decided and cleared. First collected edition. 8vo. [14], 317, [3, publisher's advertisements] pp., title page ruled in red, woodcut head and tail pieces, bound without the initial blank. Nineteenth century calf, rebacked, flat spine lettered in gilt and ruled in blind, covers attractively panelled in blind, marbled endpapers, red edges (small loss to fore edge of title page and second leaf, with no loss of text, heavy browning to opening 32 leaves with some further occasional spotting throughout, small loss to lower corner of F4 not effecting text, faint dampstaining to lower fore margin of pp. 193-208, surface wear to rear endpapers around the hinge; joints slightly rubbed, boards heavily scuffed, corners bumped). London, Matt. Gilliflower, Henry Rogers, and Tho. Fox. The first collected edition, misleadingly designated as 'The Third Edition' on the title page, containing The Elements of Law, originally published in 1650 in two parts under the titles Humane Nature and De Corpore Politico, together with Hobbes's important polemic on free will 'Of Libertie and Necessitie', written in 1651 and originally published in 1654. The Elements of Law anticipated many of the ideas regarding the indivisibility of sovereignty that Hobbes would fully express in Leviathan. 'Starting with an account of human psychology and a powerful analysis of the origins (and the necessity) of the state, it mounted a strong defence of royal authority in such matters as the imposition of taxation' (ODNB). The third part of this collection, 'Of Libertie and Necessitie', pertains to Hobbes's 'heated debate with John Bramhall, bishop of Derry, Ulster, on the subject of free will. In 1645, in Paris, Hobbes had discussed the problem of free will with the bishop, and they both wrote their views on the matter soon afterward. A young disciple of Hobbes published his contribution in 1654, without Hobbes's consent' (The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, IV, p. 32). Provenance: from the library of the English Unitarian minister, writer and educator William Henry Herford (1820-1908), with his book label to front pastedown, ownership inscription to verso of front free endpaper and a few instances of pencilled marginal highlighting.
