Kircher on light, 1646
Updated September 24, 2026
| Lot number | 179 |
| Estimate | 1,200.00 - 1,800.00 USD |
| Auction | Fall Rare Books, Manuscripts, Historical Prints, & Ephemera |
| Date | October 8, 2026 at 10:30 AM EDT |
| Auction house | Quinn's Auction Galleries |
| Location | Falls Church, Virginia |
KIRCHER, ATHANASIUS. Ars magna lucis et umbrae. Rome: Hermann Scheus, 1646. 2 volumes in 1. Folio (190 x 293 mm). Text in Latin. Additional engraved title, 36 engraved plates, 4 full-page engraved tables on 2 leaves, and approximately 400 woodcuts in text; woodcut initials and ornaments. [38], 935, [15] pp. Modern cloth. Provenance: Venterus Mandey (1646-1702, ownership signature dated 1686 to engraved title, a few marginal notes). First edition of Kircher’s treatise on light and shadow, optics, and related phenomena. Includes a chapter titled "De mira rerum naturalium constitutione per microscopium investiganda" on the structure of things studied under a micrsscope, preceding Hooke by nearly 20 years. From the library of the English mathematician (and bricklayer) Venterus Manday (see his entry in Book Owners Online). Norman 1216; Wellcome III p 394. Condition Minimal scattered foxing, a few torn corners, small tears to folds of Jesuit plate, but a clean copy.
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