This stunning engraving is an early view of the sun shown with solar flares and surface eruptions based on the observations of Kircher and Christoph Scheiner in 1635. Kircher's masterpiece, titled Mundus subterraneus (The Underground World) was the first serious effort to describe the physical makeup of the earth, proposing theories (sometimes fantastic) in the areas of physics, geography, geology, and chemistry. Published in a Dutch edition of Kircher's famous Subterranean World by Johann Waesberger.

References: De Vorsey (Mercator's World) Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 28-31.

Condition: A

A nice impression on a bright sheet with a minor printer's crease adjacent to the centerfold and a professionally repaired centerfold separation that enters less than 1" into image at bottom. The bottom margin has been extended a bit to accommodate framing.