Rome, c.1636

14 woodblocks from Athanasius Kircher's Prodromus Coptus, wrapped in scrap paper printed with an image of the block. Rome, c.1636

A remarkable set of printing blocks from the Propaganda Fide Press, used in Kircher's Coptic grammar. Kircher's book explored the relationship between Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs—still at the time undeciphered—and other world languages, and argued for a connection between Coptic and Ancient Egyptian. The blocks cut to illustrate this work perfectly reflect the scope of both Kircher's polymathic mind and the ambition of the Congregation of the Propaganda Fide, whose press was devoted to helping missionaries study the languages necessary to disseminate Catholicism around the world. They represent Egyptian glyphs, Chinese and Coptic writing, and other Christian and esoteric imagery. See Merrill 3.

14 wooden blocks, largest being 148 x 81mm and the smallest 25 x 20mm). Each wrapped in paper printed with an image from the block (about 6 blocks with a few wormholes, only in 2 cases affecting the printing surface).