The First Six Books of The Elements of Euclid: In Which Coloured Diagrams and Symbols are Used Instead of Letters for the Greater Ease of Learners.
by EUCLID - BYRNE, Oliver
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
London, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London: William Pickering,, 1847. The Mondrian of mathematics First edition of "one of the oddest and most beautiful books of the whole century" (McLean). The use of colour is its most iconic feature, with equal angles, lines, or polygonal regions assigned one of the three primary colours. It is rare in both the original cloth (as here) and in the original wrappers. Byrne (18101880) was a self-educated Irish mathematician and engineer who "considered that it might be easier to learn geometry if colours were substituted for the letters usually used to designate the angles and lines of geometric figures. Instead of referring to, say, 'angle ABC', Byrne's text substitued a blue or yellow or red section equivalent to similarly coloured sections in the theorem's main diagram" (Friedman). His style remarkably prefigures the modernist experiments of the Bauhaus and De Stijl movements. Exhibited at the Great Exhibition in London 1851, the book was praised for the beauty and artistry of the printing. However, the selling price of 25 shillings was almost five times the typical price for a Euclidean textbook of the time, placing it out of reach of educators who might make use of this new way of teaching geometry. The technical difficulty of keeping the coloured shapes in register greatly increased production costs, and it was therefore never a viable book for cheap mass-production, preventing Byrne's method from becoming widespread or effecting any major change in the teaching of geometry. Even so, its beauty and innovation ensure it remains among the most desirable of illustrated books from the Victorian period. Quarto. Original red straight-grain cloth, expertly rebacked preserving the original gilt-blocked spine, covers with ornamental blind panelling, front with gilt tooling, pale yellow endpapers, gilt edges. Geometric diagrams printed in red, yellow, and blue; printed in Caslon old-face type with ornamental initials by C. Whittingham of Chiswick. Bookseller's blindstamp (G. W. Holdich, Hull) to front free endpaper. Extremities gently rubbed, spine darkened, corners and inner hinges professionally restored, foxing and offsetting to contents as usual, the diagrams sharp and bright. A very good copy. Friedman, Color Printing in England 43; Keynes, Pickering, pp. 37, 65; McLean, Victorian Book Design, p. 70. Susan M. Hawes & Sid Kolpas, "Oliver Byrne: The Matisse of Mathematics", Convergence (Mathematical Association of America), Aug. 2015.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Peter Harrington (GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 151310
- Title
- The First Six Books of The Elements of Euclid
- Author
- EUCLID - BYRNE, Oliver
- Book Condition
- Used
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Place of Publication
- London: William Pickering,
- Date Published
- 1847
Terms of Sale
Peter Harrington
All major credit cards are accepted. Both UK pounds and US dollars (exchange rate to be agreed) accepted. Books may be returned within 14 days of receipt for any reason, please notify first of returned goods.
About the Seller
Peter Harrington
Biblio member since 2006
London
About Peter Harrington
Since its establishment, Peter Harrington has specialised in sourcing, selling and buying the finest quality original first editions, signed, rare and antiquarian books, fine bindings and library sets. Peter Harrington first began selling rare books from the Chelsea Antiques Market on London's King's Road. For the past twenty years the business has been run by Pom Harrington, Peter's son.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Blindstamp
- A blindstamp is a stamped impression, usually an image, logo, words, or design on the cover or spine of a book, without color or...
- Quarto
- The term quarto is used to describe a page or book size. A printed sheet is made with four pages of text on each side, and the...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Rebacked
- having had the material covering the spine replaced. ...
- Wrappers
- The paper covering on the outside of a paperback. Also see the entry for pictorial wraps, color illustrated coverings for...
- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...