Inside the book

The frontispiece presents an allegorical introduction to the subject. At left stands Archimedes, personifying Studium (study), while at right a mechanic or engineer (Mechanicus) embodies Labor (labor). Beyond a drawn curtain unfolds an animated industrial landscape of mills, aqueducts, and water-powered machines, all framed within a classical architectural setting. The preface defines Mechanica as a noble art derived from geometry and physics, divided into speculative and practical branches. The text (pp. 1–68) comprises an introduction to mechanical principles, followed by a systematic commentary on each plate. The 154 engraved plates constitute a comprehensive repertory of motive-power technology. They treat water-, wind-, horse-, weight-, and hand-driven mills, hydraulic pumps, fire-engines, Archimedean screws, and paper-making machinery. The designs are largely drawn from Böckler’s own inventions, with additional material derived from Jacopo Strada’s Kunstliche Abriss (1617–18). Appended is the Saxon Mühlordnung of 1568. Among the machines illustrated is an attempted design for a perpetual motion device (p. 59). The final plate is of particular significance, offering one of the earliest printed accounts of a fire-engine associated with a known maker and date (Hautsch, 1658). It describes large siphons of copper, brass, and iron, devised to project water for extinguishing fires. These machines employed dual chambers to ensure continuous pumping and were capable of raising water to a height of 80–100 feet, a remarkable achievement for the period. Both fixed and portable models are recorded, the latter sufficiently light to be operated by a single individual. Constructed and tested in Nuremberg in 1658 by Joannes Hautsch, they represent among the earliest practical fire-engines capable of reaching rooftops, contributing materially to his reputation in mechanical invention.