Catalog Archive
Auction 113, Lot 618

"Typus Montis Aetnae ab Authore Observati Ao. 1637", Kircher, Athanasius

Subject: Italy - Sicily

Period: 1682 (published)

Publication: d'Onder-Aardse Weereld

Color: Hand Color

Size:
16.3 x 14 inches
41.4 x 35.6 cm
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Very unusual view with a cut-away to reveal the interior of this famous erupting volcano. The city of Catania is shown in the foreground. This is from Kircher's masterpiece, an immense and amazing work covering all aspects of anything that dwelled or occurred within the earth's interior - from dragons, to fossils, to mountain springs, earthquakes, and volcanoes. Kircher's work was the first serious effort to describe the physical makeup of the earth, proposing theories (sometimes fantastic) in the areas of physics, geography, geology, and chemistry. It was, in part, based on Kircher's observations of the eruptions of Aetna, Stromboli and Vesuvius in 1637-38. Published in a Dutch edition of Kircher's famous Subterranean World by Johann Waesberger.

References:

Condition: A+

Estimate: $375 - $450

Sold for: $475

Closed on 12/7/2005

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