The Kircher Circle
Athanasius Kircher (1602–1680) was a prominent German Jesuit scholar and polymath who spent much of his career in Rome during the transitional period between the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. A remarkably prolific author, Kircher published over forty richly illustrated works on an extraordinary range of subjects, including the visual and performing arts, linguistics, physics, biology, and the earth sciences. Yet Kircher did not work in isolation. His scholarship emerged from a broader Jesuit and Republic of Letters network that included correspondents, collaborators, illustrators, printers, and fellow natural philosophers such as Gaspar Schott (1608–1666), whose publications and experimental interests helped circulate and expand many of Kircher’s ideas across Europe. A timeline of Kircher's publications and life events is provided below.
Kircher and those within his research network maintained a sustained interest in terrestrial phenomena, developing diverse conceptual models for understanding the structure and processes of the Earth. Their writings continue to attract the attention of historians of science, particularly scholars concerned with the early formation of the geosciences and the circulation of scientific knowledge in the seventeenth century.
Most of the works produced by Kircher and his intellectual circle were originally published in Latin, with some also appearing in vernacular languages such as Dutch and German. This research project and accompanying website aim to make these early contributions to the geosciences more accessible to a wider English-speaking audience. Through translation, contextualization, and analysis, the project seeks to illuminate both Kircher’s role and the broader collaborative environment that shaped early modern understandings of the Earth.
Autobiography (1682): THE LIFE of the Most Reverend Father Athanasius Kircher of the Society of Jesus, a man celebrated throughout the entire world.
WORKS INCLUDING GEOLOGIC THEMES BY KIRCHER AND ASSOCIATES:
| Year | Author | Title | Geologic Topics | Transcription/Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1631 | Kircher |
Ars Magnesia - The Magnetic Art |
Describes how an eruption of Vesuvius caused magnetic needles to shift direction and marvels at the phenomenon where a red-hot piece of iron is drawn to a magnet. |
|
| 1641, 1643, 1654 | Kircher |
Magnes sive de arte magnetica opus tripartitum - The Lodestone, or the Magnetic Art |
Describes meteorological and terrestrial processes |
|
| 1656 | Kircher |
Itinerarium Exstaticum - Ecstatic Journey |
Discussion of the Cosmos and planets, explained through a dreamplay. |
Kircher, A., Itinerarium Exstaticum [Ecstatic Journey] Volume 1. (Parcell, W., transl., 2025) RoL Press. 407 p. (Original work published in 1656) Kircher, A., Itinerarium Exstaticum [Ecstatic Journey] Volume 2. (Parcell, W., transl., 2025) RoL Press. 257 p. (Original work published in 1656) |
| 1657 | Kircher |
Iter Exstaticum II - Second Ecstatic Journey |
Discussion of Earth's inner processes, explained through a dreamplay. Precursor to Mundus. |
Kircher, A., Iter Exstaticum II [Ecstatic Journey II]. (Parcell, W. transl., 2025) RoL Press, 343 p. (Original work published in 1657) |
| 1660 | Kircher, Gaspar Schott |
Iter Exstaticum Coeleste - Ecstatic Journey into the Heavens |
Second edition of Kircher's 1656 work Itinerarium Exstaticum, stands as an imaginative synthesis of early modern astronomy, natural philosophy, and sacred cosmology. Significant commentary by Schott lends clarity and structure. Schott also actively defends Kircher’s ideas against ecclesiastical censors who had raised objections to the earlier 1656 work. |
Kircher, A., Schott, G., Iter Exstaticum Coeleste [Ecstatic Journey into the Heavens]. Volume 1. (Parcell, W., transl., 2026) RoL Press, 407 p. (Original work published in 1660) Kircher, A., Schott, G., Iter Exstaticum Coeleste [Ecstatic Journey into the Heavens]. Volume 2. (Parcell, W., transl., 2026) RoL Press, 423 p. (Original work published in 1660) |
| 1660 | Gaspar Schott |
Pantometrum Kircherianum - Kircherian Pantometer |
Presents a systematic exposition of Athanasius Kircher’s universal measuring instrument, an apparatus designed to unite geometry, surveying, architecture, and practical mechanics within a single operational framework. Kircher used this instrument when measuring Mount Vesuvius. |
In preparation |
| 1661 | Kircher |
Diatribe de prodigiosis crucibus - Diatribe on Prodigious Crosses |
Written in response to widespread reports of cross-shaped signs appearing in the sky, on buildings, in natural materials, and within optical and meteorological phenomena in 1660. Draws on geometry, optics, astronomy, and natural philosophy. Discusses how the form of the cross might arise from physical causes (e.g. volcanic ash and stains) while still retaining symbolic and theological significance. |
Kircher, A., Diatribe de prodigiosis crucibus [Diatribe on prodigious crosses] (Parcell, W., transl., 2026) RoL Press, 103 p. (Original work published in 1661) |
| 1663 | Gaspar Schott |
Anatomia Physico-Hydrostatica Fontium ac Fluminum - The Physico-Hydrostatic Anatomy of Springs and Rivers |
An ambitious attempt to explain the origin and behavior of terrestrial waters through a synthesis of Aristotelian natural philosophy, Jesuit scholasticism, and emerging hydrostatic science. |
Schott, G., Anatomia Physico-Hydrostatica Fontium ac Fluminum [The Physico-Hydrostatic Anatomy of Springs and Rivers]. Volume 1. (Parcell, W., transl., 2026) RoL Press, 408 p. (Original work published in 1663) Schott, G., Anatomia Physico-Hydrostatica Fontium ac Fluminum [The Physico-Hydrostatic Anatomy of Springs and Rivers]. Volume 2. (Parcell, W., transl., 2026) RoL Press, 178 p. (Original work published in 1663) |
| 1664/5, 1668 (reprint), 1678 | Kircher |
Mundus Subterraneus - The Subterreanean World |
Comprehensive investigation of Earth and its natural phenomena conceived as a unified geocosm. |
Parcell, W., accepted/in press, Athanasius Kircher's Mundus Subterraneus (1678). Abridged translation and commentary. Geological Society of America Books. Parcell, W., accepted/in press, A World of Analogy—Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680) and Mundus Subterraneus (1665, 1678) in the Development of the Earth Sciences, article in Parcell, W., Athanasius Kircher's Mundus Subterraneus (1678). Abridged translation and commentary. Geological Society of America Books. |
| 1665 | Kircher |
Historia Eustachio Mariana - Eustachian-Marian History |
A work intended to help raise funds for the restoration of a a ruined Marian shrine near Guadagnolo, Italy (Santuario Madre delle Grazie della Mentorella). Within the work, Kircher examines the forms and features of regional land surfaces (chorography) through description, illustrations, and maps. |
Kircher, A., Historia Eustachio Mariana [Eustachian-Marian History]. (Parcell, W., transl., 2025) RoL Press. 401 p. (Original work published in 1665) |
|
1667 |
Kircher |
China Monumentis, qua sacris qua profanis - China Illustrated with Monuments, Both Sacred and Profane |
Also abbreviated in English by John Ogilby in Nieuhof, J., 1673, An embassy from the East-India Company of the United Provinces, to the Grand Tartar Cham, Emporer of China deliver'd by their excellencies, Peter de Goyer and Jacob de Keyzer, at his imperial city of Peking | Table of Contents |
|
1669 |
Kircher | The Vulcano’s: or, Burning and Fire--vomiting Mountains, Famous in the World | Contemporaneous partial translation of the Preface from Mundus as well as paraphrased excerpts of Books 1 and 2. Published by Benjamin Billingsly at the Printing-Press in Broad-street near Gresham College, 1669 | Digital download |
Timeline of Kircher's life events and publications
