Catalog Archive
Auction 168, Lot 50

"Typus Corporis Lunaris Panselini, una cum Maculis, Faculis, Montibus...", Kircher, Athanasius

Subject: Moon

Period: 1682 (published)

Publication: D'Onder-Aardse Weereld

Color: Hand Color

Size:
12.9 x 14.2 inches
32.8 x 36.1 cm
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This marvelous engraving is an early view of the moon graphically depicting its craters based on the observations of Kircher and Christoph Scheiner in 1636 and 1650. Putti in a cloud background hold aloft the banner-style title cartouche. 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.

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

Condition: A

A dark impression on watermarked paper with some light printer's ink residue in the blank areas surrounding the moon. Professionally remargined at top to accommodate framing.

Estimate: $800 - $950

Sold for: $700

Closed on 6/6/2018

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