Hobbes > Leviathan
When Leviathan was published in 1651 it generated significant controversy. It also generated pirated editions, including the "bear" edition depicted in the second row (RBML B320.1 H651), so called after the ornament on the title page, which lists Andrew Crooke and 1651 as its publisher and date of publication but was most probably made by a Dutch printer (possibly Christoffel Cunradus in Amsterdam) a year or two later.
The ornament on the title page of the actual first edition (RBML Seligman 1651E H652) depicted in the row above (a head with flowers on each side) is the most visible sign of difference between the two editions. There are also significant differences between the texts of each. The frontispiece offered the first tip-off that the “bear” edition was pirated. Its printer used the same engraved plate that Andrew Crooke used for the first edition but the plate was worn down from the first printing and the impression is therefore more faint (the difference is visible in the photographs).
Scholars consider the “large paper” run of the first (head) edition the most authoritative of the Leviathans because it contains more of the author’s corrections. Thomas Hobbes was living in Paris during 1651 when the book was being printed in London. Andrew Crooke's office would send Hobbes page proofs to correct but did not always wait to hear back from the author before continuing to print. Because of this, the copies of the "head" edition vary greatly. Large-paper copies tended to be the last to be run through the press.