"Schema Corporis Solaris, prout ab Auctore et P. Scheinero…", Kircher, Athanasius

This stunning engraving is an early view of the sun shown with solar flares and surface eruptions based on the observations of Kircher and Christoph Scheiner in 1635. Kircher's masterpiece, titled Mundus subterraneus (The Underground World) 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. Published in a Dutch edition of Kircher's famous Subterranean World by Johann Waesberger.

References: De Vorsey (Mercator's World) Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 28-31.

Condition: B+

Issued folding, now pressed on watermarked paper. There is a tiny hole in blank area of map image at bottom, a couple of tiny tears in blank margins, and two binding trims in left blank margin that have been repaired with old paper.