KIRCHER, Athanasius. Prodromus Coptus sive Aegyptiacus cum linguae Coptae. Roma, Propaganda Fide, 1636

4to, 205x150; Quarter calf binding end of XVIIIth century, gilt titles and ornamenents on the spine, cover on marble board; pp. [24], 338, [2]. Coat of arms of dedicatee, Cardinal Francesco Barberini on title page, woodcut initials, tail pieces, hieroglyphs and exotic characters, numerous illustrations within the text.Ancient note of possession on title page “Coll. Neap. … Soc. Iesu”. Slight uniform browning due to the quality of the paper, unsophisticated copy.

Rare original edition. The first Coptic grammar, which was long the basis of Coptic studies, pioneering work in Egyptology. Merril: “the first Coptic grammar to appear in the West … Kircher had encountered hieroglyphs during his tertianship (a one-year period of religious study in preparation for the ministry) in Speier, and he was convinced - correctly - that Coptic was a late vestige of ancient Egyptian. While at Avignon he was given several Coptic manuscripts by his friend and patron Nicolas Claude Fabri de Peiresc. Later in Rome Kircher acquired an Arabic-Coptic vocabulary brought from Egypt by Pietro della Valle. On the basis of these, and with Peiresc's encouragement, Kircher compiled the Prodromus. As the title reveals, it was to be a precursor of a later work on the Egyptian language, perhaps the Lingua aegyptiaca restituta. In both works he stresses the importance of Coptic for interpreting hieroglyphics. Because 'things Egyptian' were the rage in seventeenth-century Europe, the Prodromus attained immediate popularity and firmly established Kircher's reputation as a scholar. …Type fonts include Greek, Syriac, Arabic, Hebrew, Estranghelo, Samaritan, Armenian, all with Latin translations.” On page 111 a woodcut depicts a cross surmonted by a dove, another, typically Egyptian, represents a beetle, on pages 224 and 239. Exemplary belonged to Collegio Massimo of the Jesuits of Naples, as indicated by the handwritten note to the Title Page. Dunnhaupt, II, pp. 996-97; Merrill, Athanasius Kircher, 3. The Lot is offered with a valid export licence.