Sale: 385 / Rare Books, Nov. 21. 2011 in Hamburg Lot 555

 
Athanasius Kircher - Diatribe. 1661


555
Athanasius Kircher
Diatribe. 1661
Estimate:
€ 2,000 / $ 2,160
Sold:
€ 14,400 / $ 15,552

(incl. surcharge)
Kircher, A., Diatribe. De prodigiosis crucibus, quae tam supra vestes hominum, quam res alias, non pridem post ultimum incendium Vesuvii montis Neapoli comparuerunt. With 1 folding copper plate . Rome, V. Mascardi für B. Dervesin 1661. Contemp. vellum with gilt tooled initials "H. V. G." and date "1671". 8vo. 4 ll., 103 pp.

Dünnhaupt 14. I. - De Backer/po. IV, 1059, 18: "petit volume très rare". - Merrill 16. - Wellcome III, 395. - Not in Ackermann, Caillet, Dorbon-Ainé, Honeyman, Poggendorff u. a. - First edition of this rare work by Kircher. - "This is the first edition of .. one of the rarest of Kircher's works .. Kircher maintains that the crosses are the result of a mixture of minerals and vapors reacting with the sun's light upon certain materials. Nevertheless, he argues, the crosses are a portent from God warning the people to repent. This approach is an excellent illustration of Kircher's position between the two worlds of the seventeenth century, the scientific and the orthodox" (Merrill). - B.: Sprat, Th. , L'histoire de la Societé Royale de Londres. Establie pour l'enrichissement de la science naturelle .. traduite in François. With woodcut title vignette, fullpage armorial copper and 2 folding copper plates. Geneva, J. H. Widerhold 1669. 8 ll., 542 (recte 540) pp. - Cf. Duveen 558 and DSB XII, 581 (each English first edition 1667): "It was the first design of the History to explain the nature, organization, work, and aims of the Royal Society to the public .." - With neat pale red marginalia and underscores by a contemp. hand. Very well preserved volume , fine copy.

First edition, rare. With 1 folding copperplate. Contemp. vellum, front board with gilt initials "H. V. G." and date "1671". - 1 work bound in (Th. Sprat, L'histoire de la Societé Royale de Londres, Geneve 1669). - Partly neat marginalia and underlinings by a contemp. hand. Very fine copy.




555
Athanasius Kircher
Diatribe. 1661
Estimate:
€ 2,000 / $ 2,160
Sold:
€ 14,400 / $ 15,552

(incl. surcharge)