BERINGER, Johann Batholomäus Adam (c.1667-1738). Lithographiae Wirceburgensis, ducentis lapidum figuratorum, a potiori insectiformium, prodigiosis imaginibus exornatae specimen primum... Würzburg: Mark Anton Engmann for Philipp Wilhelm Fuggart, 1726. First edition . Beringer fell victim to an elaborate hoax, perpetrated by his colleagues at the university of Würzburg, geologist J. Iganz Roderick and librarian Johann Georg von Eckhart, who manufactured fossils (including those inscribed with the name of God in Hebrew, Latin or Arabic), planted them around Mount Eibelstadt in the neighbourhood of Würzburg, and left Beringer to discover them. Beringer published his findings and posited possible explanations for the formation of fossils, not then understood. The scandal and subsequent lawsuit on discovery of the hoax discredited all three men. Some of the ‘lying stones’ survive. A large copy . Nissen ZBI 330; Norman 195; VD-18 14869489. Folio (325 x 205mm). Engraved frontispiece by Johann Georg Puschner and 21 engraved plates (lacking 3 leaves containing a ‘Corollaria Medica’ as quire Cc at end). ?19th-century speckled boards (rebacked and -cornered in vellum). Provenance : remains of an armorial label at spine foot – small monogram stamp on title.
BERINGER, Johann Batholomäus Adam (c.1667-1738). Lithographiae Wirceburgensis, ducentis lapidum figuratorum, a potiori insectiformium, prodigiosis imaginibus exornatae specimen primum... Würzburg: Mark Anton Engmann for Philipp Wilhelm Fuggart, 1726. First edition . Beringer fell victim to an elaborate hoax, perpetrated by his colleagues at the university of Würzburg, geologist J. Iganz Roderick and librarian Johann Georg von Eckhart, who manufactured fossils (including those inscribed with the name of God in Hebrew, Latin or Arabic), planted them around Mount Eibelstadt in the neighbourhood of Würzburg, and left Beringer to discover them. Beringer published his findings and posited possible explanations for the formation of fossils, not then understood. The scandal and subsequent lawsuit on discovery of the hoax discredited all three men. Some of the ‘lying stones’ survive. A large copy . Nissen ZBI 330; Norman 195; VD-18 14869489. Folio (325 x 205mm). Engraved frontispiece by Johann Georg Puschner and 21 engraved plates (lacking 3 leaves containing a ‘Corollaria Medica’ as quire Cc at end). ?19th-century speckled boards (rebacked and -cornered in vellum). Provenance : remains of an armorial label at spine foot – small monogram stamp on title.
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