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Mathematical Treasure: Joseph Fenn's Instructions Given in the Drawing School

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

After Irish schoolteacher Joseph Fenn’s proposal for a drawing school in Dublin was approved in 1768, he prepared two volumes between 1769 and 1772 on the course of instruction. Below are the frontispiece and title page for the second volume.

Frontispiece for 1772 second volume of Joseph Fenn's Instructions for a Drawing School.

Title page for 1772 second volume of Joseph Fenn's Instructions for a Drawing School.

The second volume contained three sections, on history of mathematics, numeral arithmetic, and specious arithmetic (what we would think of as algebra, with letters for unknowns):

History of mathematics section in 1772 second volume of Joseph Fenn's Instructions for a Drawing School.

Section on arithmetic from 1772 second volume of Joseph Fenn's Instructions for a Drawing School.

Section on specious arithmetic from 1772 second volume of Joseph Fenn's Instructions for a Drawing School.

Additional images from the opening section on the history of mathematics may be viewed in Convergence here.

These images were obtained from the Joseph L. Rousseau Collection of Mathematics and Ciphering Books, Millersville University Library.

Index to Mathematical Treasures

Frank J. Swetz (The Pennsylvania State University), "Mathematical Treasure: Joseph Fenn's Instructions Given in the Drawing School," Convergence (February 2021)