.jpg?w=1)
Details
MAIER, Michael (1568-1622). Atalanta Fugiens, hoc est, Emblemata nova de secretis naturae chymica, accomodata partim oculis & intellectui, figuris cupro incisis, adjectisque sententiis, epigrammatis & notis, partim auribus & recreationi animi plus minus 50 fugis musicalibus Oppenheim: Hieronymus Galler for Johann Theodor de Bry, 1618.
4o (189 x 149 mm). Engraved title and 50 half-page emblematic engravings of chemical processes by Matthias Merian the elder ALL COLORED IN A CONTEMPORARY HAND. (Lacking five preliminary leaves, replaced with manuscript, title re-margined.) Modern green morocco. Provenance E. Valdruche (pencil note, and portion of bookplate) ; acquired from John Landwehr, 1977.
FIRST EDITION second issue (only the date altered from 1617). ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS WORKS IN THE HISTORY OF ALCHEMICAL LITERATURE. Maier was a celebrated alchemist and physician at the court of the Emperor Rudolf II in Prague. "The Atalanta Fugiens is generally regarded as Maier's rarest work and it is also the most sought after, for the splendid engravings which belong to the finest samples of Hermetical illustration" (Duveen, attributing the engravings to Theodore de Bry). The 50 emblems with epigrams are accompanied by 50 pieces of music the "fugues" or canons mentioned on the title page. Duveen p. 381; Ferguson II p. 62; McPhail 76; Wellcome 3980. Fact and Fantasy 55.
4o (189 x 149 mm). Engraved title and 50 half-page emblematic engravings of chemical processes by Matthias Merian the elder ALL COLORED IN A CONTEMPORARY HAND. (Lacking five preliminary leaves, replaced with manuscript, title re-margined.) Modern green morocco. Provenance E. Valdruche (pencil note, and portion of bookplate) ; acquired from John Landwehr, 1977.
FIRST EDITION second issue (only the date altered from 1617). ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS WORKS IN THE HISTORY OF ALCHEMICAL LITERATURE. Maier was a celebrated alchemist and physician at the court of the Emperor Rudolf II in Prague. "The Atalanta Fugiens is generally regarded as Maier's rarest work and it is also the most sought after, for the splendid engravings which belong to the finest samples of Hermetical illustration" (Duveen, attributing the engravings to Theodore de Bry). The 50 emblems with epigrams are accompanied by 50 pieces of music the "fugues" or canons mentioned on the title page. Duveen p. 381; Ferguson II p. 62; McPhail 76; Wellcome 3980. Fact and Fantasy 55.