Using some of the College’s early editions of the works of celebrated British philosopher Thomas Hobbes, Dr Parkin will offer insights into the history of Hobbes’s frontispieces and show audiences how books can be seen not just as a collection of words but as objects whose images can offer clues as to the meaning of those words. Focusing on Hobbes’s masterpiece Leviathan (1651) as well as other works, such as De cive (1642) and Behemoth (1681), this lecture will be a unique opportunity for adults and kids to see some of the world’s most precious early printed works written by an Oxford alumnus up close.
Dr Jon Parkin is an alumnus (Modern History 1988) of and Tutorial Fellow in History at St Hugh’s College, Oxford. He has published widely on different aspects of early-modern British intellectual history and political thought. His second book, Taming the Leviathan (Cambridge, 2007), explores the reception of Hobbes’s ideas in England between 1640 and 1700.
This event is part of the series A Festival of Anniversaries.