


Lot 7•
KIRCHER (ATHANASIUS) Polygraphia nova et universalis ex combinatoria arte detecta, Rome, Varese, 1663
23 March 2022, 12:00 GMT
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £1,912.50 inc. premium
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KIRCHER (ATHANASIUS)
Polygraphia nova et universalis ex combinatoria arte detecta, woodcut on title-page, 3 folding tables (one engraved, 2 letterpress), spotting and some paper toning, old ownership inscriptions erased in ink (oxidised resulting in minor losses to blank lower margin), early limp vellum, light soiling [Sommervogel IV, 1059], folio (330 x 232mm.), Rome, Varese, 1663
Footnotes
First edition of Kircher's treatise on cryptography and the creation of a universally understood language. The appendix is devoted to a discussion of Johannes Trithemius' Polygraphia (1518) which had inspired Kircher's interest in the subject.