The Textual History of Leviathan: The English Text and the Limits of Textual Consensus

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31649/sent45.02.084

Keywords:

textual criticism, critical edition, de luxe copy, Ukrainian translation

Abstract

The article is devoted to the textual foundations of a new Ukrainian translation of Thomas Hobbes’s Leviathan. It is shown that neither of the two existing Ukrainian translations rests on an adequate textual basis: the first reproduces only the English version of 1651 in R. Tuck’s edition, while the second is a retranslation of the Russian translation of 1991, as demonstrated by a comparison of several passages. The paper analyses the controversy between G. A. J. Rogers and K. Schuhmann, on the one hand, and N. Malcolm, on the other hand, over the relation between the three versions of the English text – Head, Bear and 25 Ornaments – and establishes the limits of the textual consensus that must be taken into account in preparing a scholarly Ukrainian translation. A preliminary review is also given of the two editions that take the Latin text into account, those of E. Curley and N. Malcolm.

Author Biography

Oleksiy Panych, Ukrainian Evangelical Theological Seminary (Kyiv)

D. Hab., PhD, Professor, Professor of the Department of Theology

References

Dymerets, R. (2001). On Question of Concept of Power in T. Hobbes Political Philosophy. [In Russian]. Sententiae, 3(1), 68-87. https://doi.org/10.31649/sent03.01.068

Hobbes, T. (1909). Leviathan, reprinted from the edition of 1651, with an essay by the late W. G. Pogson Smith. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Hobbes, T. (1991). Leviathan, or Matter, the form and power of the ecclesiastical and civil state. In T. Hobbs, Writings: in 2 vols. (Vol. 2, pp. 3-590). [In Russian]. Moscow: Mysl.

Hobbes, T. (1994). Leviathan, with selected variants from the Latin edition of 1668. (E. Curley, Ed.). Cambridge: Hackett.

Hobbes, T. (1996). Leviathan. (R. Tuck, Ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge UP.

Hobbes, T. (2000). Leviathan, or the Matter, Forme and Power of a Commonwealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil. (R. Dymerets, V. Yermolenko, N. Ivanova, Ye. Miroshnychenko, & T. Oliinyk, Trans.). [In Ukrainian]. Kyiv: Duh i Litera.

Hobbes, T. (2003). Leviathan (Vols. 1-2). (G. A. J. Rogers & K. Schuhmann, Eds.). Bristol: Thoemmes Continuum.

Hobbes, T. (2012). Leviathan (Vols. 1-3). (N. Malcolm, Ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oseo/instance.00025178

Hobbes, T. (2025). Leviathan. (V. Boiko, Trans.). [In Ukrainian]. Kharkiv: Folio.

Malcolm, N. (2012). Editorial Introduction. In T. Hobbes, Leviathan (Vol. 1, pp. 1-331). Oxford: Clarendon Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oseo/instance.00025178

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Published

2026-08-30

How to Cite

Panych, O. (2026). The Textual History of Leviathan: The English Text and the Limits of Textual Consensus. Sententiae, 45(2), 84–91. https://doi.org/10.31649/sent45.02.084

Issue

Vol. 45 No. 2 (2026): SENTENTIAE

Section

ARTICLES

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