Description
Athanasius Kircher, one of the first scholars to fully sustain himself through his writings, was renowned worldwide for his prolific output of 44 books and 2,000 essays. Fleeing Germany during the Thirty Years’ War, he settled in Rome in 1634 as a professor. Inspired by the eruption of Vesuvius in 1637 and the Calabria earthquakes of 1638, Kircher turned his intellect to the natural sciences. His research into geography and oceanography led him to propose that tides and currents result from water flowing to and from a vast subterranean ocean. He published these ideas in Mundus Subterraneus (Amsterdam, 1665, and with later editions in the 17th Century), from which the offered full moon engraving originates. That publication also included a depiction of sun spots on the moon and examined the Earth’s physical composition with various theories—sometimes fantastical — drawing from the disciplines of physics, geography, geology, and chemistry.
Full title: Typus corporis lunaris panselini una cum maculis, Faculis, montibus. Fontium ebullitionibus magno studio et labore a mathematicis Collegii Romani Soc: Jesu duce et Praeside P. Scheinero, quae ab Anno 1636 usque ad Annum 1650 novis subinde additis observata et in hanc formam redacta fuerunt.
[Lunar body of Panselinos together with the spots, the Faculi [impact craters], the mountains. The ebullitions of the fountains were observed with great study and labor by the mathematicians of the Roman College under the leadership of Jesus and President P. Scheinero [Christoph Scheiner], which were observed from the year 1636 until the year 1650 with new additions from time to time and reduced to this form.]
Condition: Generally very good with the usual overall light toning, wear, handling, soft creases. Few chips to outer edges of ample blank margins, easily matted out. Center vertical fold as issued.
Reference:
“Athanasius Kircher, 1602-1680.” Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200155977/ (18 February 2025).
