![[Volcanos and the Subterranean World] Tabula Geographico-Hydrographica Motus Oceani, Currentes, Abyssos, Montes Igniuomos In Universo Orbe Indicans, Notat Haec Fig. Abyssos Montes Vulcanios By Athanasius Kircher](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/95720.jpg)
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Athanasius Kircher was a celebrated Jesuit Scholar and one of the first compilers of the semi-scientific knowledge about the physical features of the earth. This world map appeared in his Mundus Subterraeneus . . . . The work described the known currents of the ocean, volcanos, chasm, subterranean currents, etc. Shows a marvelous NW passage, massive Terra Australis, Straits of Magellan and over 20 volcanoes throughout the World. A fascinating map. Shirley 436.
Athanasius Kircher (1601-1680) was a Jesuit priest and a well-respected scholar known for his role in disseminating knowledge. Kircher was educated in Greek, Hebrew, and the humanities at Fulda, Paderborn, Cologne, Koblenz, and Mainz. After fleeing the Thirty Years’ War in Germany, Kircher worked as an academic at Avignon and, from 1634, Rome.
In Rome, Kircher served as an intellectual node, spreading information sent from around the world by Jesuit missionaries. Particular interests included ancient Egypt, astronomy, mathematics, medicine, music, and languages (both ancient and modern). He also made several maps and was a geographic compiler. It is likely he was the first person to depict the Pacific Ring of Fire on a map.
Kircher combined a mixture of hermeticism with nascent scientific inquiry, gaining him a reputation as one of the final Renaissance men. For example, he observed the eruptions of Etna and Stromboli. He had himself lowered into the crater of Vesuvius soon after an eruption to observe the changes wrought by the cataclysm. He experimented with bioluminescence by seeking the applications of firefly extract as a light source. He also made the first known Aeolian harp.
Kircher wrote 44 books, while over 2,000 of his manuscripts and letters survive. He also assembled one of the first natural history collections, the Museo Kircheriano or the Kircherianum, which was broken up after his death and became the foundation of several institutional collections.
![[17th Century Provenance!] Universalis Tabula Iuxta Ptolemaeum](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/72635.jpg)
![Earth Atlantic View [Waterman Projection]](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/86011.jpg)
