1671 Kircher / Burgundus North Polar Projection World Map, Geographical Sundial

This is an absorbing 1671 Athanasius Kircher map and representation of his concept of a 'sciatericum,' a sundial-like device that could be used for both geographic and astrological purposes. The work is characteristic of the thought of Kircher, one of the most original and prolific philosophers of his day, in that it draws on a range of traditions and influences, including mysticism, numerology, and what today would be called astrology.

A Closer Look

Most of the printed portion of the sheet is taken up by a map of the world with a North Polar projection, which is interesting in itself for reflecting the uncertain state of geographic knowledge of the Arctic at the time. (Kircher is non-committal on the possibility of a Northwest Passage.) The map also features additional curious elements, such as the extremely long Niger and Ganges Rivers, as well as the labeling of Virginia, Florida, and California. A dashed line tracks across the northern part of the Americas, marked with zodiac symbols. This work contrasts well with Kircher's stunning maps of the interior of the world, covering volcanoes and water systems (previously sold by us).

Below the map are two circular representations of what Kircher would call a 'sciathericon' or 'sciatericum,' referring to the use of shadows cast by the sun in determining not only the time of day but additional meaning as well. It is related to his broader fascination with light, shadow, and circular motion, as laid out in the book Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae (discussed below), in which this sheet appeared. Figure 2, at the bottom right, is a projection of the map above, viewed two-dimensionally from a side oblique angle, allowing the shadows it would cast to be seen. Figure 3, at the bottom left, is a chronological chart with countries and cities recorded along with their relative times ante or post meridian. Notably, it begins in Mexico (New Granada) and Syria. Text below and on the verso further explains Kircher's notion of a 'horoscopium geographicum sciatericum.'

Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae

This sheet appeared in Kircher's work Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae… ('The Great Art of Light and Shadow'), which was an important milestone in the history of science, being the first published work in Europe on illumination and the projection of images. The book also included the first published illustration of Saturn and one of the first published descriptions of a microscope, of Kircher's own design, which he called a 'smicroscopus.' Otherwise, there were hundreds of pages of text, diagrams, illustrations, and maps dealing with all facets of light, color, vision, and optics. Soon before Ars Magna…, Kircher published a book on magnetism (Magnes sive de Arte Magnetica), and the titles of the two books made a playful duo. They also fit into Kircher's broader philosophical framework, in which magnetism played a central role. (His first book, Ars Magnesia, published in 1631, was on the topic.)

The name of this book was also influenced by the 13th century Majorcan thinker Ramon Llull (c. 1232 - 1316), whose philosophical system dubbed 'Ars,' set out in a book titled Ars Magna, heavily influenced Kircher and others, particularly alchemists, in the early modern period. Llull's system, rooted in combinatorics and numerology, was itself strongly influenced by Arabic astronomy and combinations of the Hebrew alphabet from Kabbalah traditions. Kircher was also clearly impacted by Llull's fascination with 'volvelles,' concentric discs with concepts written on them that could be rotated into different alignments to divine meaning.

Kircher was so taken with the phrase 'Ars Magna' that he used it in the titles of two of his other works, Musurgia Universalis sive Ars Magna Consoni et Dissoni (1650) and Ars Magna Sciendi Sive Combinatoria (1669), the latter being in many ways the culmination of his life's thought. Taken as a whole, the work is indicative of the state of European intellectual history at the time, highly curious about the outside world, developing new techniques and practices for experimentation, and aiming to develop a comprehensive system of thought that combined elements of what would later be divided into science proper and pseudo-science.

Publication History and Census

This diagram was engraved by frequent Kircher collaborator Petrus Miotte Burgundus and appeared in the 1671 edition of Kircher's Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae, published by Jansson in Amsterdam. The present edition of the sheet is not independently cataloged in the OCLC, while the 1646 edition published in Rome is cataloged at the Université Paris Cité. The entire Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae is well-represented in institutional collections, but only occasionally appears on the market, generally at high-end auction houses.