Magnetismus Globorum Astralium. Original illustration from a copy of "Athanasii Kircheri Mundus subterraneus in XII libros digestus. "

KIRCHER, Athanasius. Magnetismus Globorum Astralium. Original illustration salvaged from a beyond-repair copy of the great "Athanasii Kircheri Mundus subterraneus in XII libros digestus", 1678. VG condition. (Owing to the size of the original folio the entire sheet does not fit on my scanner--the top 1.5" and the bottom 1" or so simply are not included in the scan, though the margins are present in real life.) Deep, strong impression, and in Very Good condition.  Magnetismus Globorum Astralium, in the chapter "Opificium Globi Terreni." Image 7 x 7 1/2", 185x190mm on a full 14 x 9 sheet of text. __+__ The great semi-mystifying polymath Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680) lived for a long time and filled his life with ideas and words,  producing dozens of books during his time on Earth, some of which were never published even though written, some manuscripts lost forever. His was a massive output of extraordinary breadth.  He wasted little time that I can see, writing on a spectacular range of subjects: enlightening people, confusing people, generating great theories and some occasional bad ideas. __+__ The image presented here comes from his Mundus Subterraenus , published in 1678, which was concerned mainly with geology and the theory of the Earth. Kircher--a product of the great Jesuit institution, the Collegio Romano--postulated the structure of the interior of the Earth, the origin of heat, the source of the tides, the composition of light, mechanics, the structure of music, linguistics, astronomy, and of course the existence of the Virgin Mary in amber.  There was also a fair amount of work on one of his side interests that populated a number of his works, alchemy and the search for the organization of materials.…