Oliver Byrne: The First Six Books of the Elements of Euclid

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

Author: Werner Oechslin
Publisher: Taschen
Published: 12/15/2013
Pages: 396
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 3.25lbs
Size: 10.30h x 8.30w x 1.50d
ISBN: 9783836544719

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.


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