"Systema Ideale Pyrophylaciorum Subterraneorum, Quorum Montes Vulcanii, Veluti Spiracula Quaedam Existant", Kircher, Athanasius

This unusual copper engraving shows a cross-section of the earth's interior with its magma core. The surface of the earth is shown with erupting volcanoes and ships sailing in the oceans. Clouds and four wind-heads surround the sphere. A decorative title cartouche completes the fanciful composition with a text panel below. The Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher was one of the first compilers of semi-scientific knowledge about the physical features of the world. This is from a Dutch edition of 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.

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Condition: A

A sharp impression on paper with a horn coat of arms watermark, a short archivally repaired edge tear that enters the image in the bottom left corner, and a small worm hole in the right blank margin that has been backed with archival materials. There are some tiny worm holes in the bottom margin.