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Printed in the U.S.A. [Date from the copyright page.] Third Printing, stated. 'A Wiley Publication in Mathematical Statistics.' Preface; Contents: Permutations and Combinations, Generating Functions, The Principle of Inclusion and Exclusion, The Cycles of Permutations, Distributions: Occupancy, Partitions, Compositions, Trees, and Networks, Permutations with Restricted Position I & II; Equations, Formulas, Problems, References, Index; x, [i], 244 pages. The original black cloth covers, with gilt lettering on a blue ground on the upper board and the gently-bumped spine, are very good, with just a few spots of discoloration. Front endpapers have list of other titles in series. The interior, despite light toning to the edges, has remained fresh, crisp, and completely clean. [Please see my 5 images of the actual book.] After discussing the term combinatorial analysis at the start of the preface [referring to Leibniz, MacMahon, a current dictionary, and DeMorgan], Riordan proclaims: "Since the subject seems to have new growing ends, and definition is apt to be restrictive, this lack of conceptual precision may be all for the best. So far as the present book is concerned, anything enumerative is combinatorial; that is, the main emphasis throughout is on finding the 'number of ways there are' of doing some well-defined operation. § The modern developments of the subject are closely associated with the use of generating functions. As appears even in the first chapter, these must be taken in a form more general than the power series given them by P. S. Laplace, their inventor. Moreover, for their combinatorial uses, they are to be regarded, following E. T. Bell, as tools in the theory of an algebra of sequences, so that despite all appearances they belong to algebra and not to analysis. They serve to compress a great deal of development and allow the presentation of a mass of results in a uniform manner, giving the book more scope than would have been possible otherwise. By their means, that central combinatorial tool, the method of inclusion an exclusion, may be shown to be related to the use of factorial moments (which should be attractive to the statistician). Finally, the presentation in this form fits perfectly with the presentation of probability given by William Feller in this series." As with every book from my father's collection, tipped-in at the front is the small, attractive, acid-free bookplate pictured on my homepage. All books are wrapped with special care and are shipped promptly with tracking; international sales sent via global priority, also with tracking.
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