Status
Available
Call number
Collections
Publication
Taschen (2010), Edition: Har/Pap, Hardcover, 464 pages
Description
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 Euclidrsquo;s Elements. The author makes it clear in his subtitle that this is a didactic measure intended to distinguish his edition from all others. This remarkable example of Victorian printing has been described as one of the oddest and most beautiful books of the 19th century.
Language
Original publication date
2010
Physical description
464 p.; 10 inches
ISBN
3836517752 / 9783836517751
Local notes
The Elements of Euclid in which coloured diagrams and symbols are used instead of letters for the greater ease of learners. A reproduction of the 1847 edition.
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 colour, sprinkled over the pages like tiny wild flowers and demanding the most meticulous alignment of the different colour plates for printing. Elsewhere, solid squares, triangles and circles are printed in bright colours.
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 colour, sprinkled over the pages like tiny wild flowers and demanding the most meticulous alignment of the different colour plates for printing. Elsewhere, solid squares, triangles and circles are printed in bright colours.