C. Schott - Technica Curiosa - 1664

[FIRST EDITION - TECHNIQUE – EARLY SCIENCE – NATURE - EXPERIMENTS – RESEARCH]

Technica curiosa, sive mirabilia artis, libris XII comprehensa
Caspar Schott

Nuremberg, Endter, 1664 – First edition

WITH 58 COPPER PLATES (OF WHICH 18 FOLDABLE)

This is the rare Nuremberg first edition of Schott’s significant collection of technical-physical experiments.

Caspar Schott’s “Technica curiosa” ranks among the central works of early modern science and technology history and represents one of the most comprehensive compilations of experimental knowledge of the 17th century. In twelve books, Schott brings together an impressive variety of mechanical, physical, and optical phenomena and stands as a quintessential example of the transition from traditional natural magic to nature research based on observation and experiment. The work is addressed not only to scholars but also conveys in a vivid form the wonder at the “mirabilia artis,” the marvels of technique and nature.

Special significance attaches to the early descriptions of the diving bell and to Otto von Guericke’s vacuum experiments with the famous Magdeburg hemispheres, which appear here even before Guericke’s independent publication. The rich illustration with 58 (of 59, including 18 fold-outs) copper plates vividly illustrate the apparatuses and experiments.

Present in a contemporary parchment binding (spine professionally restored), overall well preserved. The paper is only slightly browned, some plates more so, one plate with a margin tear without image loss. The title page with the verso portrait and the heraldic copperplate are provided as copies. Collation: 19 (of 20) leaves, 579 pages, 1 leaf, pages (581)–1044, 6 leaves.