The Commonwealth of Oceana

The Commonwealth of Oceana (/oʊˈsiːənə/ oh-SEE-ə-nə), published 1656, is a work of political philosophy by the English politician and essayist James Harrington (1611–1677).

The Commonwealth of Oceana was published in two first editions, the "Pakeman" and the "Chapman" (first names Daniel and Livewell, respectively) by the London printer John Streater,[2] between September and November 1656.

The Chapman edition was listed in the Stationers' Register of 19 Sep, and was first advertised during the week of 6 Nov in the serial Mercurius Politicus, a "quasi-official" organ of the Commonwealth.

It was first reprinted in Dublin in 1737 and 1758 in a super-edition (as it were), containing a version of Henry Neville's Plato Redivivus and an appendix of miscellaneous Harrington works compiled by the Rev.

Much of the remaining Harrington canon consists of papers, pamphlets, aphorisms, even treatises, in steadfast defence of the controversial tract.

Harrington's modern editor J. G. A. Pocock considered the prose marred by what he described as an undisciplined work habit and a conspicuous "lack of sophistication."