Phonurgia, nova sive Conjugium Mechanico-physicum Artis et Naturae Paranympha honosophia Concinnatum
Kaempten: Rudolph Dreherr, 1673
First edition.
Folio, [46], 229, [16] pp. plus 1 blank leaf. Engraved title, engraved vignette on letterpress title, engraved portrait, 2 engraved plates.
Contemporary stiff vellum.
Yet another product of Kircher's prodigious and insatiable intellect. He once again takes up the entire encyclopedic scope of his subject - physical acoustics, musical acoustics, ancient and contemporary musical instruments, architectural acoustics, with sidebars on sound transmission at a distance and methods to eavesdrop on conversations. The figure illustrates a keyboard instrument invented by his contemporary Michele Todini. The engraved title page is an extraordinary baroque fantasia.
Engraved titlepage, Phonurgia Nova,Kaempten 1673.
