Nov 11, 2008 - Sale 2162

Sale 2162 - Lot 203

Price Realized: $ 2,280
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 500 - $ 750
KIRCHER, ATHANASIUS, S.J. Arithmologia; sive, De abditis numerorum mysteriis. Woodcut text illustrations, including portrait of the dedicatee, Francisco de Nadasd, on title verso; 2 (of 3) folding tables, including one printed in red and black. [16], 301, [9] (of [11]) pages, including engraved allegorical additional title; lacks final blank. Some use of Arabic, Greek, and Hebrew type. 4to, old sheep-backed boards, needs rebacking; some browning or foxing. Rome: Typographia Varesii, 1665

Additional Details

first edition of a treatise on numerology, "one of Kircher's more curious works" (Merrill), beginning with a speculative history of the origin of numbers and including much on ancient Near Eastern, gnostic, kabbalistic, and neo-Pythagorean doctrines. Caillet 5769; Merrill 19.