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2024

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Book, The First Six Books of the Elements of Euclid

This is a Book. It was designed by Charles Whittingham and printed by Charles Whittingham.

This object is not part of the Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection. It was able to spend time at the museum on loan from Smithsonian Libraries and Archives as part of Saturated: The Allure and Science of Color.

It is dated 1847. Its medium is letterpress and lithograph on paper.

Disregarded as an oddity after its publication in 1847, Byrne’s Euclid has since been praised by both designers and mathematicians as one of the most beautiful books on mathematics ever produced. Byrne used primary colors to distinguish different planes; the result calls to mind de Stijl design and the paintings of Piet Mondrian.

It is credited Gift of Bern Dibner, Smithsonian Libraries, QA451 .B99X 1847 .

Our curators have highlighted 2 objects that are related to this one.

Its dimensions are

H x W (open): 24 × 36 cm (9 7/16 × 14 3/16 in.)

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Saturated: The Allure and Science of Color.

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/1108749869/ |title=Book, The First Six Books of the Elements of Euclid |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=26 April 2024 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>