The First Six Books of the Elements of Euclid

1847

Special Collections QA31 E9 BZ84 1847

London: William Pickering

Little is known of Euclid’s life except that he was Greek, lived in Alexandria in Egypt under the rule of Ptolemy I (367-283 BC) and was responsible for Elements, one of the most reproduced textbooks of all time. The book’s survival is due in part to its easy-to-understand, systematic nature and its popularity has endured for at least 2000 years. This 19th century copy of the first six books of Elements (1897) was produced by Oliver Byrne (ca. 1810-1880), an Irish mathematician and civil engineer. It is unique in its use of ‘coloured diagrams and symbols…instead of letters’ and is an excellent example of printing from the Victorian era.