FLUDD, Robert (1547-1637). Utriusque cosmi maioris scilicet et minoris metaphysica, physica atque technica historia . - Tractatus secundus de naturae simia seu technica macrocosmi historia Oppenheim: Hieronymus Gallerus for Johann Theodorus de Bry, 1617-1618.
FLUDD, Robert (1547-1637). Utriusque cosmi maioris scilicet et minoris metaphysica, physica atque technica historia . - Tractatus secundus de naturae simia seu technica macrocosmi historia Oppenheim: Hieronymus Gallerus for Johann Theodorus de Bry, 1617-1618. 2 parts in one volume, 2 o (300 x 192 mm). Folding engraved chronological table at beginning, engraved title to each part, numerous engravings throughout, many full-page, some double-page (4) and folding (a few very minor old marginal repairs). (Inner margins repaired in first quire, two circular stamps cut from and replaced on dedication [affected letters on verso supplied in manuscript], some leaves lightly browned, a few insignificant stains.) Late 17th-century blindstamped pigskin over wooden boards, gilt-lettered morocco spine label on spine, metal clasps and straps. Provenance : acquired from Harry A. Levinson, 1968. FIRST EDITION OF FLUDD'S MYSTIC MASTERPIECE, and richly illustrated with designs attributed to de Bry, Merian and Fludd. The volume comprises the first two parts of Fludd's works which appeared between 1617-38. "Fludd's work is an encyclopaedia of all things regarded from an occult Rosicrucian point of view. The first part presents an illustrated history of creation, from the void (represented by an engraving from an entirely blackened plate) through the process of distillation by which Fludd believes the world to have been created. The second tractate takes up, in turn, occult mathematics, occult harmonics and music theory, occult theories of vision and optics, and even, at great length and with numerous plates, the occult theory of fortification and military strategy. Horology, cosmology, and astrology, as well as other occult disciplines, are also expounded. Fludd, most perfectly in this work and its sequel, presents in a fully orchestrated harmony, the Rosicrucian themes of the seventeenth century" ( Alchemy: A Comprehensive Bibliography of The Manly P. Hall Collection , p. 80). Some of the remarkable engravings present in this work depict, among other things, the first experiment on gas, with the picture of a candle burning in a small volume of air standing over water (p. 471), which may have suggested a similar procedure to Mayow and Hales; an explanation of refraction (p. 310); use of triangles in drawing faces; and an early diving apparatus (p. 419). Fludd sought a new understanding of nature based on Christian principles and interpreted the Genesis as a divine alchemical process. He believed the eternal truths of the Scriptures and the mysteries of the ancient occultist carried far more weight than the evidence of the senses and that humans are linked to divinity through nature. The Cosmi Maioris is "a presentation of Renaissance Magia and Cabala, with the addition of Alchymia as developed by Paracelsus and the developments introduced by John Dee into these traditions... [it is] a Rosicrucian philosophy, a Renaissance philosophy brought up to date" (Yates, The Rosicrucian Enlightenment , p. 80). The present copy appears to be complete. A FINE COPY. Caillet 4042 ("Traité fort rare et tràs recherchéavec de nombreuses gravures très belles et curieuses de Jean Théodore de Bry"); Duveen p.222; Emil Fischer and Gottlieb Haberlandt, pp. 47-48; Houzeau & Lancaster 2965, 2966; Wellcome 2324. Fact and Fantasy 54.
FLUDD, Robert (1547-1637). Utriusque cosmi maioris scilicet et minoris metaphysica, physica atque technica historia . - Tractatus secundus de naturae simia seu technica macrocosmi historia Oppenheim: Hieronymus Gallerus for Johann Theodorus de Bry, 1617-1618.
FLUDD, Robert (1547-1637). Utriusque cosmi maioris scilicet et minoris metaphysica, physica atque technica historia . - Tractatus secundus de naturae simia seu technica macrocosmi historia Oppenheim: Hieronymus Gallerus for Johann Theodorus de Bry, 1617-1618. 2 parts in one volume, 2 o (300 x 192 mm). Folding engraved chronological table at beginning, engraved title to each part, numerous engravings throughout, many full-page, some double-page (4) and folding (a few very minor old marginal repairs). (Inner margins repaired in first quire, two circular stamps cut from and replaced on dedication [affected letters on verso supplied in manuscript], some leaves lightly browned, a few insignificant stains.) Late 17th-century blindstamped pigskin over wooden boards, gilt-lettered morocco spine label on spine, metal clasps and straps. Provenance : acquired from Harry A. Levinson, 1968. FIRST EDITION OF FLUDD'S MYSTIC MASTERPIECE, and richly illustrated with designs attributed to de Bry, Merian and Fludd. The volume comprises the first two parts of Fludd's works which appeared between 1617-38. "Fludd's work is an encyclopaedia of all things regarded from an occult Rosicrucian point of view. The first part presents an illustrated history of creation, from the void (represented by an engraving from an entirely blackened plate) through the process of distillation by which Fludd believes the world to have been created. The second tractate takes up, in turn, occult mathematics, occult harmonics and music theory, occult theories of vision and optics, and even, at great length and with numerous plates, the occult theory of fortification and military strategy. Horology, cosmology, and astrology, as well as other occult disciplines, are also expounded. Fludd, most perfectly in this work and its sequel, presents in a fully orchestrated harmony, the Rosicrucian themes of the seventeenth century" ( Alchemy: A Comprehensive Bibliography of The Manly P. Hall Collection , p. 80). Some of the remarkable engravings present in this work depict, among other things, the first experiment on gas, with the picture of a candle burning in a small volume of air standing over water (p. 471), which may have suggested a similar procedure to Mayow and Hales; an explanation of refraction (p. 310); use of triangles in drawing faces; and an early diving apparatus (p. 419). Fludd sought a new understanding of nature based on Christian principles and interpreted the Genesis as a divine alchemical process. He believed the eternal truths of the Scriptures and the mysteries of the ancient occultist carried far more weight than the evidence of the senses and that humans are linked to divinity through nature. The Cosmi Maioris is "a presentation of Renaissance Magia and Cabala, with the addition of Alchymia as developed by Paracelsus and the developments introduced by John Dee into these traditions... [it is] a Rosicrucian philosophy, a Renaissance philosophy brought up to date" (Yates, The Rosicrucian Enlightenment , p. 80). The present copy appears to be complete. A FINE COPY. Caillet 4042 ("Traité fort rare et tràs recherchéavec de nombreuses gravures très belles et curieuses de Jean Théodore de Bry"); Duveen p.222; Emil Fischer and Gottlieb Haberlandt, pp. 47-48; Houzeau & Lancaster 2965, 2966; Wellcome 2324. Fact and Fantasy 54.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
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