st james park press
oliver byrne
THE BEAUTY OF BYRNE
Euclid’s Elements is the most famous mathematical work of classical antiquity and has the distinction of being the world’s oldest continuously used mathematical textbook. Little is known about the author, beyond the fact that he lived in Alexandria around 300 BCE. The main subjects of the work are geometry, proportion, and number theory. It was one of the very earliest mathematical works to be printed after the invention of the printing press and has been estimated to be second only to the Bible in the number of editions published since the first printing in 1482.
In 1847, however, Oliver Byrne published (through William Pickering) his own unique version of Euclid's Elements, where he sought to introduce the technical aspects of Euclid's work in pictorial form like never before. Byrne’s edition noted in its title that ‘coloured diagrams and symbols are used instead of letters for the greater ease of learners’. That edition was considered ‘the most attractive edition of Euclid the world has ever seen’ (Werner Oechslin, 2010) and ‘one of the oddest and most beautiful books of the whole century’ (Ruari McLean, Victorian Book Design). The book has become the subject of renewed interest in recent years for its innovative graphic conception and its style which prefigures the modernist experiments of the Bauhaus and De Stijl movements.
The edition from the St James Park Press, intended for release at the end of 2024, is not a reprinting of the Byrne edition, but rather - as the title implies - a treatise and exploration of the concept of beauty, as it relates to the Byrne edition.
the edition
type
The text is set in various Jan Van Krimpen metal types, including: Spectrum, Open Kapitalen, and Haarlemmer Italic. The first and last of these are newly cast founts, the other foundry type; all are handset for the edition.
paper
The edition is printed on a combination of papers: Barcham Green Hayle handmade laid paper for the text, and Somerset mould-made paper from St Cuthbert's Mill for the illustrations, with smooth white Zerkall for the prelims and endmatter.
layout
The edition is broken down into six identically devised sections. Each section features a four-page essay (the first chapter is a two-page essay) printed on Hayle handmade paper; followed by a series of related illustrations and quotes across the proceeding eight pages of St Cuthbert's Mill Somerset paper. Following the prelims, there are therefore a total of 22 pages of essays and c. 48 pages of illustrations/ quotes.
The sections are as follows:
[TITLE PAGE]
[PRELIMS]
I
THE IDEAL BOOK
Introducing the concept of beauty as it relates to Byrne's Euclid;
II
GEOMETRIC ABSTRACTION
Exploring the attraction of mathematical beauty and Byrne's use of geometry;
III
COLOUR VISION
Contemplating the colours used by Byrne and their appeal to the senses;
IV
EUCLIDIS ELEMENTA
Assessing Byrne's edition as it compares to other Euclidean editions;
V
BYRNE'S CURIOSITY
Focusing on the history and publication of Byrne's edition and its 'illustrations';
VI
IN DE VOETSPOREN TREDEN
Viewing the impact of Byrne's edition through those artists that came thereafter.
[ENDMATTER]
Every copy also includes 4 pages (a page spread, front and back)
from a disbound copy of the original 1847 edition,
sewn in and protected by a mylar page fold.
The edition is therefore also a 'leaf book',
binding
[To be announced]
particulars
15 specials (plus 3 hors d'commerce) and 35 standard copies (plus 1 hors d'commerce)
c. 70pp.
page size 260mm (h) x 200mm (w)
(2024)
special edition
The SPECIAL EDITION will be bound in a specially constructed expandable binding mimicking the title page geometric shape printed in the original edition, as well as featuring additional elements within.
The binder of the Specials - Graham Patten - is a 2014 graduate of the Buffalo State College master’s program in art conservation and is currently the book conservator at the Boston Athenaeum. He served for three years as an Assistant Book Conservator at the Northeast Document Conservation Center. He was the 2014 - 2016 Conservation Fellow at Northwestern University Library and was previously a conservation intern at the Harvard University Weissman Preservation Center. In his artistic pursuits, Graham often focuses on dynamic sculptural and mechanical elements and enjoys merging these features with innovative book structures, such as this edition. He is a member of the Guild of Bookworkers, and a Professional Associate of the American Institute for Conservation.
There will be additional elements to the Special Edition - to be announced.
VIDEO of prototype EXPANDING BINDING
MATERIALS for the BINDING