Kircher, pub. 1678 - Diagram of the Earth and the Volcanic Spots and Molten Core

This scientific engraving is Athanasius Kircher's
Mundus subterraneus, in XII Libros digestus; Qvo Divinum Subterrestris Mundi Opificium, mira Ergasteriorum Naturæ in eo distributio, verbo Pantamorphon Protei Regnum, Universæ denique Naturæ majestas & divitiæ summa rerum varietate exponuntur, Abditorum effectuum Causæ acri indagine inquisitæ demonstrantur, cognitæ per Artis & Naturae conjugium ad Humanæ vitæ necessarium usum vario Experimentorum apparatu, necnon novo modo & ratione applicantur; Ad Alexandrum VII. Pontoon. Opt. Max....Editio tertia.... This from the third edition of the work published in Amsterdam in 1678 by Joannem à Waesberge & Filios.







This work was based off Kircher's visit to Sicily in 1637-8 when Etna and Stromboli both erupted. This observation led him to conclude that the earth's center as a massive internal fire and that volcanoes acted as safety valves. His work speculated on geology, hidden lakes, rivers of fire, strange inhabitants, the sun, the moon, eclipses, currents, meteorology, medicines, poisons, and even fireworks. The work “must always command a high place in the literature as the first effort to describe the earth from a physical standpoint.” (Zittel, p. 25)



Athanasius Kircher (1601-1680) was a Jesuit priest and scholar. He gathered and helped disseminate knowledge from around the world gathered by Jesuit missionaries. It is believed he was the first to depict the Pacific Ring of Fire on a map. He was one of the final Renaissance men. He lowered himself into Vesuvius after an eruption, experimented with bioluminescence as a light source, and make the first known Aeolian harp. He wrote 44 books, over 2000 manuscripts, and assembled one of the first natural history collections. Kircher's work was itself fascinating for its thematic maps. His work was on the underground passages and subterranean networks of the globe. He created a map that was the first to show ocean currents.



Provenance: On first endpaper was a mounted letter to Carl Sahlin from the prioress of the Altomünster monastery dated 1926. Originally owned by the Birgittine monastery in Altomünster, Upper Bavaria. With inscription of Simon Hörmann (1631-1701), 14th prior of the monastery in 1631, General prior of the Order in 1675, he also made the house of Saint Brigid in Rome a property of the Altomünster monastery. Later from the Library of Carl Sahlin (1861-1943) and industrialist and writer on science of mining and metallurgy