Athanasius Kircher

Athanasius Kircher

Kircher (Athanasius) Mundus subterraneus, in XII libros digestus, 2 vol. in 1, first edition, double-column, 2 engraved pictorial titles, printed title to vol.1 with engraved vignette, engraved portrait of Pope Alexander VII (but without the portrait of the author), 22 plates and maps (including 1 smaller woodcut plate at p.30 in vol.2), most double-page or folding, numerous engraved or woodcut illustrations in text, 7 letterpress tables, all but 1 double-page, 1 double-page table in vol.2 trimmed at foot with loss of text, sig. Nn misbound, single-page map 'Hydrophilacium' and smaller woodcut plate loose, water-stained, causing some purple damp-spotting in a few instances, occasional spotting, contemporary calf, rebacked, upper corners repaired, covers rubbed and scuffed, [Caillet 5783 'Le plus curieux des nombreux ouvrages de ce savant. - Ce monde souterrain est plutôt un monde kabbalistique'; Ferguson I, p. 467; Sabin 37967; cf. Duveen p.322 (1678 edition)], folio, Amsterdam, J. Jansson & E. Weyerstraten, 1665.

⁂ First edition of Kircher's survey of the subterranean world, which is based on his visit to Sicily in 1637-38, during which he witnessed the eruptions of Etna and Stromboli. Includes geology, metallurgy, mining, mineralogy and meteorolgy, coupled with speculation on more esoteric subjects, such as the possibility of underworld inhabitants. The world map (Shirley 436) is one of the earliest to depict the movement of ocean currents with any degree of accuracy.