Athanasius Kircher was a German Jesuit priest with a lifelong thirst for knowledge. This led to studies in mathematics, geography, geology, mechanics, natural history, languages and the sciences. After travelling widely in Europe and further afield he settled in Rome in 1634 where he was employed in the Collegio Romano as Professor of Mathematics and Oriental Languages. Among many other accomplishments, he was the foremost authority on Egyptian hieroglyphics of his day and the inventor of the Camera Obscura, the precursor to the modern cine projector.



Another fascination was the natural world, which led to one of his more fantastical theories, postulating that the seas and oceans of the world were inter-connected through a vast underground ocean with a series of deep trenches and shafts. These explained the concept of ocean currents and tides.



This map attempts to chart ocean currents and mark the deep trenches on the ocean floor. Geographically, the shape of the earth is greatly antiquated, based loosely on Ortelius's map of 1587. The detail focuses on natural features such as rivers, lakes and volcanoes. The nomenclature is vast and sweeping, only serving to identify continents or regions. The map also includes two features which first appeared in the later sixteenth century but which were both losing geographical credibility in their current form: one was the vast unknown Great Southern Land and the other was a firm cartographic delineation of the Northwest and Northeast Passages.



The map concentrates on showing sweeping currents over the oceans, attempting to chart their course over the globe. The concept of ocean currents is not new; this phenomenon had been reported by mariners for centuries but the attempt to map them was novel as was the idea that they were all connected. Kircher adds two features in support of his theory: one is the placement of a series of "Abyssos" or deep trenches and huge shafts on the ocean floor; the other is a series of underground tunnels between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea; the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf; and presciently, between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea in the Suez region. Again, these were concepts to support his idea that all of the world's water was a continuous body. The map also marks several volcanoes, including one in the Pacific Ocean. Both of these features are carefully labelled with a key marked just below the title.



While the concept may seem fantastic to the modern eye, the sheer ambition and scope of the theory was astounding and worthy of someone who has been called "The Last Renaissance Man." It is also, if not the first, then certainly one of the earliest attempts to both chart the ocean currents and map the ocean floor.

Shirley 436. [WLD2314]