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ARCA NOË, IN TRES LIBROS DIGESTA, QUORUM: I. DE REBUS QUAE ANTE DILUVIUM, II. DE IIS, QUÆ IPSO DILUVIO EJUSQUE DURATIONE, III. DE IIS, QUÆ POST DILUVIUM A NOËMO GESTA SUNT, QUAE OMNIA NOVA METHODO, NEC NON SUMMA ARGUMENTORUM VARIETATE, EXPLICANTUR, & DEMONSTRANTUR.
(Amsterdam: Apud Joannem Janssoniun à Waesberge, 1675). 383 x 250 mm. (15 1/8 x 10"). 7 p.l., 240 pp., [8] leaves. FIRST EDITION.
Attractive modern dark green morocco, covers with gilt fillet border, central panel diapered in blind, raised bands, spine gilt in compartments with central fleuron, gilt lettering, dark green endpapers. In a sturdy felt-lined green cloth slipcase. WITH 19 ENGRAVED PLATES, 10 double-page and three folding, three maps (two folding), one small engraving tipped in, and 99 engravings and woodcuts in the text, most of them of animals and birds. A few marginal biblical citations in ink in a neat contemporary hand. Merrill 26; Caillet 5768; Nissen ZBI 2195; USTC 1812140; Brunet III, 666. Frontispiece mounted on tab, text lightly pressed, not infrequent (but quite light and never offensive) marginal foxing, small stains and smudges, a couple of folding plates with short (mended) tears at a fold, but generally clean and fresh, and in an unworn, sympathetic binding. An excellent copy of a book normally found in poor condition.
Generously proportioned and abundantly illustrated--including with detailed zoological descriptions and attractive maps--this is an extremely pleasing copy of Kircher's exploration of the story of Noah's Ark. In what Merrill calls a "fascinating and delightful piece of imaginative exegesis," Kircher expands here upon the story of the Great Flood, working out the dates and timeline, the exact dimensions and arrangement of the ark, the details of its landing, and the subsequent dispersion of its human and animal passengers. He synthesizes biblical information with the latest scientific discoveries and ideas; for example, he explains the range of animals recently found in far-off lands such as the Americas by arguing that many were the result of postdiluvian adaptation to different environments, a proposal which has been interpreted by some commentators as a forerunner of evolutionary theory. Similarly, the present work includes up-to-date maps of the world directly next to engravings of the biblical Paradise. The text, which is attractively printed with Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, and Arabic types alongside the Latin, is accompanied with a veritable (um . . .) flood of illustrations. Described by Caillet as being of "remarkable beauty of execution," these range from scientific to fantastical to strikingly narrative, as in the chilling depiction of drowned humans and animals floating in the receding floodwaters. Many of the depictions concern the animals on the ark, where the fanciful (a griffin, a mermaid, and a unicorn) are juxtaposed with energetic depictions of real creatures (although the rhinoceros bears more resemblance to Dürer's than the actual animal). Athanasius Kircher (1602?-80), was a polymath, learned in the humanities, biblical studies, and, above all, the sciences, which had fascinated him since his youth. Born in Germany, he entered the Jesuit order as a teenager and taught mathematics at the Jesuit College in Rome, where he resided for 46 years. Undeterred by the relatively recent trial of Galileo (in which his Jesuit College had played a role), Kircher was a believer in the Copernican theory and an early observer through the telescope. He studied and wrote on many things (a partial list would include the heavens, hieroglyphs, physics and mechanics, magnetism, medicine, and volcanoes). Whereas the vast majority of Kircher's books are now found very foxed and browned, our copy, in an attractive sympathetic binding, is an extremely pleasing example of a lush and imaginative 17th century work combining the biblical and the scientific in the unique way that reflects the evolving understanding of the author's world. (ST20713)
Price: $12,500.00