17th to 19th centuries Kircher, A. Turris Babel... Lot 298

[17th to 19th centuries] Kircher, A. Turris Babel [Tower of Babel], sive Archontologia qua Primo (...) Secundo Turris fabrica civitatumque exstructio (...) auspiciis Aug. & Sapient. Caesaris Leopoldi Primi (...). Amst., Janssonius van Waesberge, 1679. 1st ed. (rare). 3 parts in 1 vol. (14),219,(13) p. Title vignette, frontisp. by J.V. Munnichuysen after G. de Lairesse, complete w. 12 engr. plates (9 fold.), num. engr. in-text (full-p.) ills. Leather. Folio. Some folds/ creases and sm. tears, Ninive plan sl. browned. First edition of Kircher's study on the origin of languages, illustrated with extravagant folding plates, tables of alphabets and engraved images of ancient coins and their inscriptions.