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Vellum-bound treatise by <i>Johannes Zahn</i> 1696
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Vellum-bound treatise by <i>Johannes Zahn</i> 1696
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When Johannes Gutenberg began building his press in 1436, he was unlikely to have realized that he was giving birth to an art form which would take centre stage in the social and industrial revolutions which followed.
Before Gutenberg's innovation, most books were produced by and for the Church using the process of wood engraving. But metal type changed all this. This extraordinary find is a complete, white vellum bound copy of the three volumes of one of the many works of Johannes Zahn (born in Mar 1641 in Karlstadt, Germany, died 1707). Zahn was a Jesuit Prior, as well as the Professor of Mathematics at the University of Wurzburg from 1685 until his death. A scientist, anatomist, philosopher and inventor, Zahn's most famous work is Oculus Artificialis Teledioptricus sive Telescopium . He was almost obsessive in his study of optical phenomena connected with vision and the use of lenses, and his book contains many descriptions and illustrations of both the camera obscura and magic lantern. Zahn used the lantern for anatomical lectures, invented a large workshop camera obscura for solar observations using the telescope and scioptric ball, and demonstrated the use of mirrors and lenses to erect the image, enlarge and focus it. Zahn also designed several portable camera obscuras for drawing, using the 45' mirror, and used side flaps to shield unwanted light. Published by Johannes Christopher Lochner in Nuremburg in 1696. 'Mundi Mirabilis Oeconomia' (The Wonderful Organisation of the Universe) is a philosophical tract completely in Latin, with a long series of chapters and sections discussing every aspect of the learning of the time. Over 1150 pages, all but 2 bound in. This book is a remarkable insight into the mind of the educated man of the time, and we have no hesitation at pricing it as we do, as single illustrated pages from this book have sold at auction in Arizona and Germany in the last 18 months for over $4,000 ! Comes complete with 2 sheets of handwritten notes in ink on paper in Latin; they appear to be the notes of a 17th century student studying the work. 
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