VMs: Kircher's Museum; catalogues by Buonanni

[Xavier Ceccaldi <ceccaldi@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I just get an easy access to the two books on the Kircher?s Museum by Filippo Buonanni, successor of Kircher at the Collegio Romano :

• Musaeum Kircherianum : sive; Musaeum A P. Athanasio Kirchero; in Collegio Romano Societatis Jesu; Jam pridem incoeptum; Nuper restitutum, auctum, descriptum & Iconibus illustratum... Romae, G. Plach, 1709

• Rerum naturalium historia, nempe Quadrupedum, Insectorum, Piscium, variorumque marinorum corporum fossilium, plantarum exoticarum ac praesertim Testaceorum existentium im Museo Kircheriano, Romae, 1773.

The second book is an extract of the first one, more than a reedition. Actually, the books are straight catalogues of this famous Wonder Museum. The title of the second one give good indications on the content, which is organized in several " pars " and " classis ". The books are illustrated with nice engraved plates : clothes, shells, animals, fishes, shoes, antiquities, tablets, instruments, microscopic observations?These books are great? but i saw no information on the content of Kircher?s library (which was probably not part of the Museum). The second book contains some pages on the lifes of Kircher and Buonanni and a catalogue of books written by Kircher (33) and by Buonanni (13).

I am ready to check again these two books on any matter, at the request of the list.

Best regards

Xavier Ceccaldi