Shukenron: Eikoku gakushi Hobbusu-cho (Theory of Sovereignty: by the English Scholar Hobbes)

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Shukenron: Eikoku gakushi Hobbusu-cho ["Theory of Sovereignty: by the English Scholar Hobbes"]

Hobbes, Thomas [original text by]; Monbushō [edited by].

[Tōkyō]: Monbushō Henshū-kyoku, Meiji 16 [1883].

The first published translation of Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Commonwealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil (1651) in Japanese. The work, produced by the Ministry of Education, is an abridged translation of the nine chapters that make up Part II: Of Commonwealth. Yamashita Shigekazu states in The First Japanese Translation of Thomas Hobbes' [sic.] "Leviathan", 1883 (1981) that the translation "was undoubtedly published in response to the fact that the writings of Mill, Spencer, Rousseau, and other political thinkers from the United Kingdom and France were popular among the liberal movement at the time and were used as a banner for criticism of the government. It is certain that the book was published to counter this criticism" (p. 75). He continues, "It is clear that the Ministry of Education's intention in publishing Theory of Sovereignty in 1883 was to present an antithesis to the idea of liberal civil rights, and that the abridgement of the second part of Leviathan severed the connection with the first part and brought the insistence on monarchical despotism to the fore" (p. 79). The first three pages, which feature calligraphy by the prominent statesman and Minister of Education Fukuoka Takachika (1835-1919), have been woodblock-printed. The rest of the text is printed with movable type. A fascinating example of a piece of Western philosophy being deployed by the Japanese government as an authority on societal structure. No physical copies traced outside of Japan in OCLC.

One four-hole-bound (yotsumetoji) volume, complete, on double leaves, traditional East Asian binding style (fukurotoji). Original mounted daisen title panel present. Original wrappers very lightly marked and creased, ex-owner's sticker to upper. Ex-ownership stamp to first text page, slightly offset onto title. Publisher's keninshi stamp affixed to title page. [4], 76, [1] leaves. 22.3 x 15 cm.

❧ Yamashita, Shigekazu. "The First Japanese Translation of Thomas Hobbes' "Leviathan", 1883", Research in the History of English Studies, Issue 3 (1981): 75-90.

Shukenron: Eikoku gakushi Hobbusu-cho (Theory of Sovereignty: by the English Scholar Hobbes)
Price: $3,680.00 (USD)