Theatrum Machinarum Novum, das ist, Neu-vermehrter Schauplatz der Mechanischen Künsten.

1t. (engraved title page) + [10] + 44 p. + 154 t.

A scarce German edition. A machinery treatise by the Nuremberg architect Ber, devoted to pumps, presses, and milling equipment. Unlike many Baroque machine books, which often present purely speculative or imaginative designs made possible by access to an engraver, this work is notable for focusing largely on machines that were actually built and put into use.

The machines described and illustrated include paper mills, gunpowder mills, a fulling mill, a smithy with water-powered bellows, pipe-boring mills, grinding devices for sharpening tools, knives, and weapons, as well as windmills. The majority of the plates depict grist mills and water-raising mechanisms, though the volume also features more unusual devices such as a roasting spit and a fire engine. Many of the engravings are well known, having been widely copied in technological publications over the following century.

The book was first issued in German in 1661, followed by a Latin translation the next year. Both versions went through several reprints, always using the same set of plates. As is typical of German books from this period, Böckler’s works often suffer from browning of the paper; this example, however, is among the cleanest and freshest copies we have ever seen.

In contemporary, worn vellum binding. Folio [33 x 21.5 cm].

Graesse I.459; Hoover 142 (Latin); Singer, History of Technology III.16-17.

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