Kircher, Athanasius | First edition of Kircher’s encyclopedic study of the natural world beneath the Earth’s surface

Kircher, Athanasius

Mundus subterraneus in XII libros digestus. Amsterdam: Johannes Jansson a Waesberge and Eliza Weyerstraet, 1665

Two volumes in one, folio (413 x 241 mm). Two engraved title-pages with vignettes, two engraved portraits, 21 engraved plates and maps (some folding or double-page), 60 engraved text illustrations and maps, numerous woodcut diagrams and figures, 7 tables (some folding); a few small spots, one small repaired tear. Contemporary roll-stamped calf over wooden boards, spine gilt in seven compartments, gilt supralibros to both covers, brass clasps; expertly rebacked preserving original spine, endpapers renewed, one clasp lacking.

First edition of Kircher’s vast and imaginative exploration of subterranean science. The work was inspired by his visit to Sicily in 1637–38 where he witnessed the eruptions of Etna and Stromboli. From these observations he concluded that the planet’s core was a great internal fire, with volcanoes serving as its vents. Extending beyond geology, Kircher ranges through hidden lakes and fiery rivers, the moon and the sun, ocean currents, meteorology, mining, alchemy, astrological medicine, distillation, and fireworks.

"Perhaps Kircher's most popular work in his day and best known in ours" (Merrill).

REFERENCES

Merrill 17; Nissen ZBI 2196; Wellcome III p. 395; Brunet III, 667

PROVENANCE

Biblioteca Viridis Vallis (inscription on first engraved title-page) — Society of Writers to the Signet (gilt supralibros on both covers) — Sotheby’s New York, 1 January 2002, lot 104