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Details
KIRCHER, Athanasius (1602-1680). Ars magna lucis et umbrae. Rome: Lodovico Grignani for Hermann Scheus, 1646.
2 parts in one volume, 2° (308 x 200mm). Additional engraved title by Pierre Miotte, title and part-title with woodcut vignettes, 40 engraved plates of which one folding, numerous woodcut illustrations and diagrams, initials, ornaments and tailpieces, letterpress tables. (Additional title remargined, final leaf remargined, browned and stained, occasional light waterstaining, spotting and browning, repaired tear to folding plate and a few other small repairs and tears.) 19th-century quarter brown sheep (some rubbing and bumped corners). Provenance: purchased by the Royal Institution on 1 December 1812 for 15s.
FIRST EDITION. In Ars magna lucis et umbrae Kircher sought parallels between the action of light and that of magnetism. Among the optical topics discussed and investigated by Kircher in this work are bioluminescence, the projection of sun or candlelight onto mirrors painted in colours or through painted glass spheres, and the military use of mirrors by Archimedes to set fire to Roman ships (a phenomenon that Kircher thought probable). A second edition was published in Amsterdam in 1671. Brunet III, 666; Caillet 5770; NLM/Krivatsy 6396; Norman 1216 (38 plates only); Sommervogel IV, 1050, no.9; Waller 11,385; Wellcome III, p.394.
2 parts in one volume, 2° (308 x 200mm). Additional engraved title by Pierre Miotte, title and part-title with woodcut vignettes, 40 engraved plates of which one folding, numerous woodcut illustrations and diagrams, initials, ornaments and tailpieces, letterpress tables. (Additional title remargined, final leaf remargined, browned and stained, occasional light waterstaining, spotting and browning, repaired tear to folding plate and a few other small repairs and tears.) 19th-century quarter brown sheep (some rubbing and bumped corners). Provenance: purchased by the Royal Institution on 1 December 1812 for 15s.
FIRST EDITION. In Ars magna lucis et umbrae Kircher sought parallels between the action of light and that of magnetism. Among the optical topics discussed and investigated by Kircher in this work are bioluminescence, the projection of sun or candlelight onto mirrors painted in colours or through painted glass spheres, and the military use of mirrors by Archimedes to set fire to Roman ships (a phenomenon that Kircher thought probable). A second edition was published in Amsterdam in 1671. Brunet III, 666; Caillet 5770; NLM/Krivatsy 6396; Norman 1216 (38 plates only); Sommervogel IV, 1050, no.9; Waller 11,385; Wellcome III, p.394.
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