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

Byrne, Oliver

ISBN 10: 3836544717 / ISBN 13: 9783836544719

Published by Taschen, 2013

About this Item

4to (26 cm), XXIX, [1], 268, [2], 96 pp. Publisher's boards (ownership entry on the half-title). Facsimile of the 1847 original edition with commentaries in English, French, and German. "Nearly a century before Mondrian made geometrical red, yellow, and blue lines famous, 19th-century mathematician Oliver Byrne employed this color scheme for the figures and diagrams in his most unusual 1847 edition of Euclid's Elements. The author makes it clear in his subtitle that this is a didactic measure intended to distinguish his edition from all others: 'The Elements of Euclid in which coloured diagrams and symbols are used instead of letters for the greater ease of learners.' As Surveyor of Her Majesty?s Settlements in the Falkland Islands, Byrne had already published mathematical and engineering works prior to 1847, but never anything like his edition of Euclid. This remarkable example of Victorian printing has been described as one of the oddest and most beautiful books of the 19th century. Each proposition is set in Caslon italic, with a four-line initial, while the rest of the page is a unique riot of red, yellow, and blue. On some pages, letters and numbers are printed in color, sprinkled across the pages like tiny wildflowers and demanding the most meticulous alignment of the different color plates for printing. Elsewhere, solid squares, triangles, and circles are printed in bright colors, expressing a verve not seen again on the pages of a book until the era of Dufy, Matisse, and Derain." (from the publisher's description).

Seller Inventory # 009102

Bibliographic Details

• Title: 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
• Publisher: Taschen
• Publication Date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3836544717
• ISBN 13: 9783836544719
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: As New
• Seller catalogs:
  • Science
  • Mathematics

About this title

Synopsis

Primary elements: Euclid in living color

 

Nearly a century before Mondrian made geometrical red, yellow, and blue lines famous, 19th century mathematician Oliver Byrne employed the color scheme for the figures and diagrams in his most unusual 1847 edition of Euclid's Elements. The author makes it clear in his subtitle that this is a didactic measure intended to distinguish his edition from all others: “The Elements of Euclid in which coloured diagrams and symbols are used instead of letters for the greater ease of learners.” As Surveyor of Her Majesty’s Settlements in the Falkland Islands, Byrne had already published mathematical and engineering works previous to 1847, but never anything like his edition on Euclid. This remarkable example of Victorian printing has been described as one of the oddest and most beautiful books of the 19th century.

Each proposition is set in Caslon italic, with a four-line initial, while the rest of the page is a unique riot of red, yellow, and blue. On some pages, letters and numbers only are printed in color, sprinkled over the pages like tiny wild flowers and demanding the most meticulous alignment of the different color plates for printing. Elsewhere, solid squares, triangles, and circles are printed in bright colors, expressing a verve not seen again on the pages of a book until the era of Dufy, Matisse, and Derain.

 

Text in English, French, and German

About the Author

The author:
Werner Oechslin (born 1944) studied art history, archaeology, philosophy and mathematics. After doctoral studies in Zurich in 1970 he taught at MIT and Harvard University. Since 1985 he has been a professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, where he led the Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture from 1986 to 2006. His research focuses on architectural theory and the cultural history of architecture. His most recent publication is Palladianismus: Andrea Palladio – Werk und Wirkung (2008). He is the founder of Bibliothek Werner Oechslin in Einsiedeln.