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Mathematical Treasure: Halliwell's Rara Mathematica

Author(s): 
Frank J. Swetz (The Pennsylvania State University)

James Halliwell (1820-1889) was an English Shakespearean scholar and collector of nursery rhymes. He is most famous for introducing the western world to the story of the “three little pigs.” A prolific author, he published Rara Mathematica in 1839. This was a collection of mathematical and mathematically related medieval manuscripts he found at the British Library.

Title page of Rara Mathematica by James Halliwell, 1839

The table of contents provides a list of the manuscripts.

First page of table of contents for Rara Mathematica by James Halliwell, 1839

Second page of table of contents for Rara Mathematica by James Halliwell, 1839

The contents of one 14th century manuscript concern the processes of numeration.

Page 29 of Rara Mathematica by James Halliwell, 1839

Page 30 of Rara Mathematica by James Halliwell, 1839

Page 31 of Rara Mathematica by James Halliwell, 1839

The images above are supplied through the courtesy of the University of California Libraries. The work may be viewed in its entirety in the Internet Archive.

Index to Mathematical Treasures

Frank J. Swetz (The Pennsylvania State University), "Mathematical Treasure: Halliwell's Rara Mathematica ," Convergence (August 2018)