A Study of the Life and Works of Athanasius Kircher, 'Germanus
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A Study of the Life and Works of Athanasius Kircher, ‘Germanus Incredibilis’ Aries Book Series Texts and Studies in Western Esotericism Editor Marco Pasi Editorial Board Jean-Pierre Brach Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke Wouter Hanegraaff Advisory Board Roland Edighoffer – Antoine Faivre Olav Hammer – Andreas Kilcher Arthur McCalla – Monika Neugebauer-Wölk Mark Sedgwick – Jan Snoek György Szo˝nyi – Garry Trompf VOLUME 12 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.nl/arbs. A Study of the Life and Works of Athanasius Kircher, ‘Germanus Incredibilis’ With a Selection of his Unpublished Correspondence and an Annotated Translation of his Autobiography By John Edward Fletcher Edited for publication by Elizabeth Fletcher Editorial adjustment for the Aries Book Series by Garry Trompf LEIDEN • BOSTON 2011 On the cover: The Subterranean Waters and the Central Fire of the Earth. From Athanasius Kircher, Mundus Subterraneus (second edition, Amsterdam: Jansson, 1678), volume I, opposite p. 186. Reproduced by kind permission of Cornell University Library. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Fletcher, John Edward. A study of the life and works of Athanasius Kircher, “Germanus incredibilis” : with a selection of his unpublished correspondence and an annotated translation of his autobiography / by John Edward Fletcher ; edited for publication by Elizabeth Fletcher ; editorial adjustment for the Aries book series by Garry Trompf. p. cm. — (Aries book series, ISSN 1871-1405 ; v. 12) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-20712-7 (hbk. : acid-free paper) 1. Kircher, Athanasius, 1602–1680. 2. Kircher, Athanasius, 1602–1680—Correspondence. 3. Jesuits—Germany—Biography. 4. Intellectuals—Germany—Biography. 5. Learning and scholarship—Europe— History—17th century. 6. Europe—Intellectual life—17th century. 7. Germany— History—1517–1648—Biography. 8. Germany—History—1648–1740—Biography. I. Fletcher, Elizabeth, 1942– II. Trompf, G. W. III. Kircher, Athanasius, 1602–1680. Vita admodum Reverendi P. Athanasii Kircheri. English. IV. Title. V. Series. CT1098.K46F53 2011 943.03092—dc23 [B] 2011020720 ISSN 1871-1405 ISBN 978 90 04 20712 7 (hardback) ISBN 978 90 04 21632 7 (e-book) Copyright 2011 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. CONTENTS List of Illustrations ............................................................................ vii List of Abbreviations ......................................................................... ix Editor’s Preface .................................................................................. xi Elizabeth Fletcher A Biographical Sketch of John Fletcher (1940–1992) ................. xv Brian Taylor Foreword ............................................................................................. xvii Joscelyn Godwin Introduction: Athanasius Kircher as Esotheric Thinker and the State of Kircher Scholarship ................................................. xxi Garry Trompf PART I KIRCHER’S LIFE AND WORKS 1. A Biographical Sketch ............................................................... 3 2. The Hieroglyph Enigma ............................................................ 68 3. Music in all its Forms and Guises ........................................... 88 4. The Revelation of the Microscope ........................................... 105 5. The Scientist before Rational Science ..................................... 129 6. A Love for Antiquities ............................................................... 181 PART II KIRCHER’S CORRESPONDENCE 7. Kircher’s Correspondence ........................................................ 195 8. Letters from Persons of Quality .............................................. 197 vi contents 9. Letters from Fellow Jesuits ....................................................... 216 10. Letters from Contemporary Men of Science ......................... 256 11. Letters from Humanists and Antiquarians ............................ 293 12. Letters from Correspondents of Long Standing ........................................................................................ 3 1 5 13. Letters from German Literary Figures .................................... 343 PART III KIRCHER’S LIFE AND LETTERS 14. Letters Written by Kircher ....................................................... 391 15. Other Kircherian Letters ........................................................... 419 16. Printed Letters from and to Kircher ....................................... 445 PART IV KIRCHER’S VITA WITH TRANSLATION AND ANNOTATIONS BY JOHN FLETCHER 17. Introduction ................................................................................ 461 18. Vita ............................................................................................... 466 Appendix Publications of John Fletcher .................................... 553 Bibliography ........................................................................................ 565 Index .................................................................................................... 601 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Note: The illustrations are selected from the volumes of letters to and from Athanasius Kircher in the Archive of the Pontificia Università Gregoriana (APUG), Rome. They are reproduced by courtesy of the Kircher Correspondence Project. The project was commenced through the collaboration of the Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza in Flor- ence, the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and the European University Institute in Fiesole, under the direction of Michael John Gorman and Nick Wilding. Since September 2000, the project has been rehoused at Stanford University, California, USA. URL http:// archimede.imss.fi.it/kircher/index.html. 1. Letter in French from Nicolas Claude Fabri de Peiresc, Aix en Provence, 3 August 1633 (APUG 568, f. 370r). Peiresc, an antiquar- ian and early patron of Kircher, writes with news of publications and personalities in Arabic studies. 2. Letter in Italian from Carlo Filippo, Prince of Tunis, Tunis, 20 Sep- tember 1650 (APUG 556, f. 268r). The prince, a Catholic convert from Islam, regrets his inability to move to Europe and asks for an Arabic treatise against the Quran. 3. Letter in Latin from Barthold Nihus, Amsterdam, 18 April 1651 (APUG 557, f. 201r). Nihus, a Catholic convert and apologist, writes about publishers, books, and the hazards of sea travel. 4. Letter in Latin from Andreas Kircher, Münster, 28 July 1651 (APUG 557, f. 58r). Andreas, a monk, was Athanasius’ elder brother. He writes with news of their brothers Joachim and Johann, and reports the death of their sister Agnes. 5. Letter in German from Johann Jacob Froberger, Regensburg, 9 Feb- ruary 1654 (APUG 557, f. 309v). The composer and organist writes with news of his travels and employment, and asks for advice about going to Aden to seek the Philosopher’s Stone. viii list of illustrations 6. Letter in Latin from Francis Ximenez, Los Angeles, Mexico, 20 April 1661 (APUG 562, f. 14r). Ximenez, a French Jesuit, acknowl- edges the receipt of Kircher’s books and promises him a shipment of chocolate and chili peppers. 7. Letter in Dutch from Johannes Jansson van Waesberghe, Amster- dam, 29 December 1666 (APUG 562, f. 173r and v). Jansson, who published most of Kircher’s later works, reports on their progress and on that of the polyglot Bible. 8. Autograph copy of a letter in Latin from Kircher to Pope Alexander VII, Rome, undated (APUG 555, f. 102r). Kircher asks permission to admit to his museum Princess Elizabeth of the Palatine, wife of the Duke of Lüneburg, who is a Protestant. 9. Autograph copy of a letter in Italian from Kircher to Grand Duke Ferdinand II de’ Medici, Rome, 15 June 1655 (APUG 561, f 58r). SD Enclosing his Itinerarium exstaticum, Kircher credits Galileo’s “exqui- site observations” as his “Ariadne’s thread.” 10. Autograph copy of a letter in Latin from Kircher to “All Math- ematicians and lovers of curiosities” introducing Sir William Persall, Rome, 28 February 1666 (APUG 563, f. 158r). Persall was a founding member of the Royal Society. Kircher praises his studies in magnetism and the determination of longitude. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Bib. Vat. Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana Brit. Lib. British Library BM British Museum BNC Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, Florence BML Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence Bib. Nat./BNP Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris COPAC Union of British Libraries GR W. Gramatowski and M. Rebernik, Episto- lae Kircherianae GVK Common Union Catalogue of German Libraries HAB Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel JF John Fletcher OLIS Pan-Oxford libraries Pont. Univ. Greg./PUG Pontificia Università Gregoriana EDITOR’S PREFACE Elizabeth Fletcher John was conducting research at the Gregoriana Library and the Vati- can Archives in Rome