Beschreibung
Bound in attractive 17th c. calfskin. A fine sammelband. The "Sphinx" exhibits the usual browning. The "Musaeum" is in very fine condition with just some closed tears (no loss whatsoever) to some of the folding plates, a small rust blemish on I1, small spot on H4, and light spotting to leaves D3-4. Complete with all of the plates, including the portrait of Kircher and the iconic view of his museum. [Bound with] Kircher, Athanasius (1602-1680) Sphinx Mystagoga, sive, Diatribe hieroglyphica qua mumiae, ex Mempheticis pyramidum adytis erutae & non ita pridem in Galliam transmissae, iuxta veterum hieromystarum mentem, intentionemque, plena fide & exacta exhibetur interpretatio. Amsterdam: Jansson-Waesberg, 1676 I. Kircher's "Most Celebrated Museum of the Roman College of the Society of Jesus" The only description of Kircher's museum in the Collegio Romano as it appeared in his lifetime, with the only extant depiction of the museum in all its fantastic glory. The subjects of the engravings are as follows: a reproduction of the "Nestorian Stele", originally published in Kircher's "China Illustrata" (1667); ten engravings of Egyptian obelisks, the largest of which measures 462 x 746 mm; an illustration of Kircher's "magnetic dove" in flight; various optical devices; the famous "magic lantern"; three plates depicting hydraulic and magnetic clocks; and several perpetual motion machines. The small woodcuts feature a number of animal specimens including an armadillo, a crocodile, an American fox, a hippopotamus, and a rhinoceros. The famous title page, depicting the museum itself, is described below. "A large group of Egyptian artifacts, presented to Kircher by the noted Nicolas Claude Fabri de Peiresc formed the original nucleus of what became the Museo Kircheriano. To them Kircher gradually added mathematical instruments which he used in his research and teaching at the Collegio, thus forming his own "cabinet" which he eventually expanded with acquisitions of other scientific instruments, largely relating to physics and astronomy, as well as mechanisms and devices of his own invention. Each of his preoccupations was reflected in the additions he made to the collections. Peiresc later sent Kircher gifts of other materials that became part of the growing museum. From his Egyptian research he added models of obelisks and his investigations into music produced musical instruments and hydraulic organs. Clocks, scientific instruments, ethnographic materials, natural history specimens, all became the raw materials for his studies as he ventured into one new subject area after another. On each of his travels, such as his journey to Sicily and Malta, Kircher sought materials for study and eventual display as he continued to build the museum with skeletons and preserved examples of birds and animals, geological specimens, and works of art representing aspects of culture. Not the least of the collections were those relating to mechanics and other aspects of technology that captured his attention. "Kircher first accommodated his "cabinet" with the College library in a relatively small hall made available to him for the purpose. When in 1651 the secretary of the Roman senate Alfonso Donnini died and bequeathed his collection of classical antiquities to the Collegio Romano, it was added to Kircher's "cabinet" and additional space was required. "An additional productive source of acquisitions for the Museo Kircheriano were materials which Jesuit missionaries sent back or brought back to their headquarters in Rome from all parts of the world and provided Kircher additional opportunities for his studies. One of his best informants was Martino Martini of Trent, from whom he obtained some of his finest Chinese artifacts. As he acquired more and more material from missionaries, the little museum in the Collegio emerged as the most extensive and celebrated private ethnographical collection of the seventeenth-century in Europe. "In time it became necessary. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 3839
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