KIRCHER, Athanasius (1602-1680). Mundus subterraneus, Amsterdam: Joannes Janssonius & Elizeus Weyerstraten, 1665, 2 volumes in one, 2° (400 x 236mm.), FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE with engraved titles dated 1664, engraved title by Theodor Matham after Johann Paul Schor in volume I and by Anthonie Siourtsma after C. vande Pas in volume II, engraved portraits of Kircher and of Pope Alexander VII, 21 engraved plates and maps, all but 7 folding or double-page, 7 double-page or folding letterpress tables, woodcuts and engravings in text, 2 illustrations with 3 volvelles (marginal tears to X3, Oo2, N1 and Z4, small part of blank margin to **6 torn away), contemporary sprinkled calf, large central gilt lozenge (lower part of spine chipped, corners bumped, extremities slightly rubbed). [Ferguson I, 467; Nissen ZBI 2196; Norman 1218; Sabin 37957; Sotheran I, 2298; Waller 10868].

Details

KIRCHER, Athanasius (1602-1680). Mundus subterraneus, Amsterdam: Joannes Janssonius & Elizeus Weyerstraten, 1665, 2 volumes in one, 2° (400 x 236mm.), FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE with engraved titles dated 1664, engraved title by Theodor Matham after Johann Paul Schor in volume I and by Anthonie Siourtsma after C. vande Pas in volume II, engraved portraits of Kircher and of Pope Alexander VII, 21 engraved plates and maps, all but 7 folding or double-page, 7 double-page or folding letterpress tables, woodcuts and engravings in text, 2 illustrations with 3 volvelles (marginal tears to X3, Oo2, N1 and Z4, small part of blank margin to **6 torn away), contemporary sprinkled calf, large central gilt lozenge (lower part of spine chipped, corners bumped, extremities slightly rubbed). [Ferguson I, 467; Nissen ZBI 2196; Norman 1218; Sabin 37957; Sotheran I, 2298; Waller 10868].

Provenance

Royal Society of Edinburgh, small stamp to title and front pastedown, gilt stamp to spine.

Lot Essay

Fine copy of the Jesuit polymath Kircher's monumental book on the subterranean or 'hidden' world. Its value was immediately recognised: a review in the Journal des Savants of 1679 commented that "it would take a whole journal to indicate everything remarkable in this work". Based on his experiences of the eruption of Vesuvius in 1637 and an earthquake in Calabria in 1638, Kircher believed that the subterranean world was composed of two interlocking systems of fire and water; the double-page plates illustrating this theory are amongst the most famous in the book (see front cover illustration).

More from Science Books

View All