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Galois’ Theory
of Algebraic Equations
Second Edition
This page intentionally left blank
 Galois’ Theory
of Algebraic Equations
Second Edition

Jean-Pierre Tignol
Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium

World Scientific
NEW JERSEY • LONDON • SINGAPORE • BEIJING • SHANGHAI • HONG KONG • TAIPEI • CHENNAI • TOKYO
Published by
World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224
USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601
UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Tignol, Jean-Pierre, author.
Title: Galois' theory of algebraic equations / by Jean-Pierre Tignol
(Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium).
Other titles: Leçons sur la théorie des équations. English | Lectures on the theory of equations
Description: 2nd World Scientific edition. | New Jersey : World Scientific, 2016. |
Originally published in English in 1988 jointly by: Harlow, Essex, England :
Longman Scientific & Technical; and, New York : Wiley. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015038537 | ISBN 9789814704694 (hardcover : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Equations, Theory of. | Galois theory.
Classification: LCC QA211 .T5413 2016 | DDC 512/.32--dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015038537

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Copyright © 2016 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.

All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval
system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the publisher.

For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the Copyright Clearance
Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. In this case permission to photocopy
is not required from the publisher.

Printed in Singapore
 à Paul

For inquire, I pray thee, of the former age,

and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers:
For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing,
because our days upon earth are a shadow.

Job 8, 8–9.
This page intentionally left blank
 Preface to the Second Edition

After the first edition of this book was published, the bicentennial of Galois’
birth (in 2011) occasioned a renewal of interest in his highly atypical oeu-
vre. Scholarship on the theory of equations and Galois theory has been sig-
nificantly expanded, notably by Stedall’s and Ehrhardt’s monographs [68]
and [27], and through the publication of a new edition of Galois’ mathe-
matical writings by Neumann [55]. While these circumstances influenced
my decision to prepare a second edition of this book, the crucial factor in
this regard stems from an uncanny experience that I had while working
on a completely different project: as Max Knus and I were studying con-
structions on étale algebras inspired by the representation theory of linear
algebraic groups, it dawned on me that some of the constructions were ex-
act analogues of those that Galois had used to attach groups to equations.
Revisiting Galois’ memoir with this analogy in mind, I was awed by the
efficiency of this perspective in elucidating Galois’ statements and enabling
the presentation of full proofs of his propositions.
In this new edition, the chapter on Galois has been completely rewritten
to take advantage of this viewpoint. The exposition is now much closer to
his memoir, and remarkably elementary.1 It is also mostly free of anachro-
nisms, although I did not refrain from using a few modern notions when I
felt they could illuminate Galois’ words without overextending his vision.
Thus, for the reader in search of a precise idea of what Galois wrote, my
account is no substitute for the original,2 but I hope it will foster a better
1 Keep in mind that “elementary” is not the same as “easy”; in this case (as often),

it is in fact the opposite: Galois’ elementary arguments are remarkably ingenious and
sometimes quite intricate.
2 Galois’ memoir is now readily available on the web site of the Bibliothèque nationale

de France, http://gallica.bnf.fr/ or the Bibliothèque de l’Institut de France, http://

www.bibliotheque-institutdefrance.fr/, or in translation [26] and [55, Ch. IV].

vii
viii Preface to the Second Edition

understanding of this difficult text. To the epilogue (Chapter 15), I have

added a new appendix to indicate the close relation between Galois’ def-
inition of the group of an equation and the modern notion of torsor that
inspired my new analysis of his memoir.
Chapters 1–13 are mostly unchanged, except for a few slight revisions
in the wording, which I hope are improvements. The more significant alter-
ations occur in the discussion of elimination theory in 5.6, and of radical
extensions in 13.1.
This second edition also gives me the opportunity to acknowledge input
from several people who gave me feedback on various aspects of the first
edition. I am especially grateful to Benjamin Barras, Oscar Luis Palacios-
Vélez, and Robert Perlis for lists of typographical errors and valuable com-
ments, which have been taken into account in this new edition. I am also
indebted to Karim-Johannes Becher and James O’Shea, who kindly read
and commented the revised version of Chapter 14. Their numerous con-
structive suggestions allowed me to eliminate mistakes and to improve the
exposition in several places.
 Preface to the First Edition (2001)

In spite of the title, the main subject of these lectures is not algebra, even
less history, as one could conclude from a glance over the table of con-
tents, but methodology. Their aim is to convey to the audience, which
originally consisted of undergraduate students in mathematics, an idea of
how mathematics is made. For such an ambitious project, the individual
experience of any but the greatest mathematicians seems of little value,
so I thought it appropriate to rely instead on the collective experience of
generations of mathematicians, on the premise that there is a close anal-
ogy between collective and individual experience: the problems over which
past mathematicians have stumbled are most likely to cause confusion to
modern learners, and the methods which have been tried in the past are
those which should come to mind naturally to the (gifted) students of to-
day. The way in which mathematics is made is best learned from the way
mathematics has been made, and that premise accounts for the historical
perspective on which this work is based.
The theme used as an illustration for general methodology is the theory
of equations. The main stages of its evolution, from its origins in ancient
times to its completion by Galois around 1830 will be reviewed and dis-
cussed. For the purpose of these lectures, the theory of equations seemed
like an ideal topic in several respects: first, it is completely elementary,
requiring virtually no mathematical background for the statement of its
problems, and yet it leads to profound ideas and to fundamental concepts
of modern algebra. Secondly, it underwent a very long and eventful evo-
lution, and several gems lie along the road, like Lagrange’s 1770 paper,
which brought order and method to the theory in a masterly way, and Van-
dermonde’s visionary glimpse of the solution of certain equations of high
degree, which hardly unveiled the principles of Galois theory sixty years be-

ix
x Preface to the First Edition

fore Galois’ memoir. Also instructive from a methodological point of view

is the relationship between the general theory, as developed by Cardano,
Tschirnhaus, Lagrange and Abel, and the attempts by Viète, de Moivre,
Vandermonde and Gauss at significant examples, namely the so-called cy-
clotomic equations, which arise from the division of the circle into equal
parts. Works in these two directions are closely intertwined like themes in
a counterpoint, until their resolution in Galois’ memoir. Finally, the alge-
braic theory of equations is now a closed subject, which reached complete
maturity a long time ago; it is therefore possible to give a fair assessment
of its various aspects. This is of course not true of Galois theory, which
still provides inspiration for original research in numerous directions, but
these lectures are concerned with the theory of equations and not with the
Galois theory of fields. The evolution from Galois’ theory to modern Galois
theory falls beyond the scope of this work; it would certainly fill another
book like this one.
As a consequence of emphasis on historical evolution, the exposition
of mathematical facts in these lectures is genetic rather than systematic,
which means that it aims to retrace the concatenation of ideas by following
(roughly) their chronological order of occurrence. Therefore, results which
are logically close to each other may be scattered in different chapters,
and some topics are discussed several times, by little touches, instead of
being given a unique definitive account. The expected reward for these
circumlocutions is that the reader could hopefully gain a better insight into
the inner workings of the theory, which prompted it to evolve the way it
did.
Of course, in order to avoid discussions that are too circuitous, the
works of mathematicians of the past—especially the distant past—have
been somewhat modernized as regards notation and terminology. Although
considering sets of numbers and properties of such sets was clearly alien to
the patterns of thinking until the nineteenth century, it would be futile
to ignore the fact that (naive) set theory has now pervaded all levels of
mathematical education. Therefore, free use will be made of the definitions
of some basic algebraic structures such as field and group, at the expense of
lessening some of the most original discoveries of Gauss, Abel and Galois.
Except for those definitions and some elementary facts of linear algebra
which are needed to clarify some proofs, the exposition is completely self-
contained, as can be expected from a genetic treatment of an elementary
topic.
It is fortunate to those who want to study the theory of equations that
Preface to the First Edition xi

its long evolution is well documented: original works by Cardano, Viète,

Descartes, Newton, Lagrange, Waring, Gauss, Ruffini, Abel, Galois are
readily available through modern publications, some even in English trans-
lations. Besides these original works and those of Girard, Cotes, Tschirn-
haus and Vandermonde, I relied on several sources, mainly on Bourbaki’s
Note historique [7] for the general outline, on van der Waerden’s “Science
Awakening” [79] for the ancient times and on Edwards’ “Galois theory” [26]
for the proofs of some propositions in Galois’ memoir. For systematic ex-
positions of Galois theory, with applications to the solution of algebraic
equations by radicals, the reader can be referred to any of the fine existing
accounts, such as Artin’s classical booklet [2], Kaplansky’s monograph [42],
the books by Morandi [54], Rotman [63] or Stewart [70], or the relevant
chapters of algebra textbooks by Cohn [17], Jacobson [40], [41] or van der
Waerden [77], and presumably to many others I am not aware of. In the
present lectures, however, the reader will find a thorough treatment of cy-
clotomic equations after Gauss, of Abel’s theorem on the impossibility of
solving the general equation of degree 5 by radicals, and of the conditions
for solvability of algebraic equations after Galois, with complete proofs.
The point of view differs from the one in the quoted references in that it
is strictly utilitarian, focusing (albeit to a lesser extent than the original
papers) on the concrete problem at hand, which is to solve equations. In-
cidentally, it is striking to observe, in comparison, what kind of acrobatic
tricks are needed to apply modern Galois theory to the solution of algebraic
equations.
The exercises at the end of some chapters point to some extensions
of the theory and occasionally provide the proof of some technical fact
which is alluded to in the text. They are never indispensable for a good
understanding of the text. Solutions to selected exercises are given at the
end of the book.
This monograph is based on a course taught at the Université catholique
de Louvain from 1978 to 1989, and was first published by Longman Scien-
tific & Technical in 1988. It is a much expanded and completely revised
version of my “Leçons sur la théorie des équations” published in 1980 by the
(now vanished) Cabay editions in Louvain-la-Neuve. The wording of the
Longman edition has been recast in a few places, but no major alteration
has been made to the text.
I am greatly indebted to Francis Borceux, who invited me to give my first
lectures in 1978, to the many students who endured them over the years,
and to the readers who shared with me their views on the 1988 edition.
This page intentionally left blank
 Contents

Preface to the Second Edition vii

Preface to the First Edition (2001) ix

1. Quadratic Equations 1
1.1 Babylonian algebra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Greek algebra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.3 Arabic algebra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

2. Cubic Equations 13
2.1 Priority disputes on the solution of cubic equations . . . . 13
2.2 Cardano’s formula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.3 Developments arising from Cardano’s formula . . . . . . . 16

3. Quartic Equations 21
3.1 The unnaturalness of quartic equations . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.2 Ferrari’s method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

4. The Creation of Polynomials 25

4.1 The rise of symbolic algebra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.1.1 L’Arithmetique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4.1.2 In Artem Analyticem Isagoge . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4.2 Relations between roots and coefficients . . . . . . . . . . 30

5. A Modern Approach to Polynomials 41

5.1 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
5.2 Euclidean division . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

xiii
xiv Contents

5.3 Irreducible polynomials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

5.4 Roots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
5.5 Multiple roots and derivatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
5.6 Common roots of two polynomials . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Appendix: Decomposition of rational functions into sums of
partial fractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

6. Alternative Methods for Cubic and Quartic Equations 63

6.1 Viète on cubic equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
6.1.1 Trigonometric solution for the irreducible case . . 63
6.1.2 Algebraic solution for the general case . . . . . . . 64
6.2 Descartes on quartic equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
6.3 Rational solutions for equations with rational coefficients . 67
6.4 Tschirnhaus’ method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

7. Roots of Unity 73
7.1 The origins of de Moivre’s formula . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
7.2 The roots of unity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
7.3 Primitive roots and cyclotomic polynomials . . . . . . . . 85
Appendix: Leibniz and Newton on the summation of series . . . 89
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

8. Symmetric Functions 93
8.1 Waring’s method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
8.2 The discriminant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Appendix: Euler’s summation of the series of reciprocals of
perfect squares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

9. The Fundamental Theorem of Algebra 109

9.1 Girard’s theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
9.2 Proof of the fundamental theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

10. Lagrange 117

10.1 The theory of equations comes of age . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
10.2 Lagrange’s observations on previously known methods . . 121
10.3 First results of group theory and Galois theory . . . . . . 131
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Contents xv

11. Vandermonde 143

11.1 The solution of general equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
11.2 Cyclotomic equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

12. Gauss on Cyclotomic Equations 155

12.1 Number-theoretic preliminaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
12.2 Irreducibility of the cyclotomic polynomials of prime index 162
12.3 The periods of cyclotomic equations . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
12.4 Solvability by radicals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
12.5 Irreducibility of the cyclotomic polynomials . . . . . . . . 182
Appendix: Ruler and compass construction of regular polygons 185
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

13. Ruffini and Abel on General Equations 193

13.1 Radical extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
13.2 Abel’s theorem on natural irrationalities . . . . . . . . . . 203
13.3 Proof of the unsolvability of general equations of degree
higher than 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

14. Galois 215

14.1 Arrangements and permutations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
14.2 The Galois group of an equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
14.3 The Galois group under base field extension . . . . . . . . 236
14.4 Solvability by radicals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
14.5 Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
14.5.1 Irreducible equations of prime degree . . . . . . . 256
14.5.2 Abelian equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

15. Epilogue 271

Appendix 1: The fundamental theorem of Galois theory . . . . 274
Appendix 2: Galois theory à la Grothendieck . . . . . . . . . . 283
Étale algebras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
Galois algebras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Galois groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
xvi Contents

Selected Solutions 291

Bibliography 299

Index 305
 Chapter 1

Quadratic Equations

Since the solution of a linear equation ax = b does not use anything more
than a division, it hardly belongs to the algebraic theory of equations; it is
therefore appropriate to begin our discussion with quadratic equations
ax2 + bx + c = 0 (a
= 0).
Dividing each side by a, we reduce to the case where the coefficient of x2
is 1:
x2 + px + q = 0.

2
The solution of this equation is well-known: when p2 is added to each
side, the square of x + p2 appears and the equation can be written
 p 2  p 2
x+ +q = .
2 2
(This procedure is called “completion of the square.”) The values of x
easily follow:
 
p p 2
x=− ± − q.
2 2
This formula is so well-known that it may be rather surprising to note
that the solution of quadratic equations could not have been written in
this form before the seventeenth century.1 Nevertheless, mathematicians
had been solving quadratic equations for about 40 centuries before. The
purpose of this first chapter is to give a brief outline of this “prehistory” of
the theory of quadratic equations.
1 The first uniform solution for quadratic equations (regardless of the signs of coef-

ficients) is due to Simon Stevin in “L’Arithmetique” [69, p. 595], published in 1585.

However, Stevin does not use literal coefficients, which were introduced some years later
by François Viète: see Chapter 4, 4.1.

1
2 Quadratic Equations

1.1 Babylonian algebra

The first known solution of a quadratic equation dates from about 2000
B.C.; on a Babylonian tablet, one reads (see van der Waerden [79, p. 69])

I have subtracted from the area the side of my square: 14.30.

Take 1, the coefficient. Divide 1 into two parts: 30. Multiply
30 and 30: 15. You add to 14.30, and 14.30.15 has the root
29.30. You add to 29.30 the 30 which you have multiplied by
itself: 30, and this is the side of the square.

This text obviously provides a procedure for finding the side of a square
(say x) when the difference between the area and the side (i.e., x2 − x) is
given; in other words, it gives the solution of x2 − x = b.
However, one may be puzzled by the strange arithmetic used by Baby-
lonians. It can be explained by the fact that their base for numeration is
60; therefore 14.30 really means 14 · 60 + 30, i.e., 870. Moreover, they had
no symbol to indicate the absence of a number or to indicate that certain
numbers are intended as fractions. For instance, when 1 is divided by 2, the
result which is indicated as 30 really means 30 · 60−1 , i.e., 0.5. The square
of this 30 is then 15 which means 0.25, and this explains why the sum of
14.30 and 15 is written as 14.30.15: in modern notation, the operation is
870 + 0.25 = 870.25.
After clearing the notational ambiguities, it appears that the author cor-
rectly solves the equation x2 −x = 870, and gets x = 30. The other solution
x = −29 is neglected, since the Babylonians had no negative numbers.
This lack of negative numbers prompted Babylonians to consider various
types of quadratic equations, depending on the signs of coefficients. There
are three types in all:

x2 + ax = b, x2 − ax = b, and x2 + b = ax,

where a, b stand for positive numbers. (The fourth type x2 + ax + b = 0

obviously has no (positive) solution.)
Babylonians could not have written these various types in this form,
since they did not use letters in place of numbers, but from the example
above and from other numerical examples contained on the same tablet, it
clearly appears that the Babylonians knew the solution of
 
a 2 a
2
x + ax = b as x = +b−
2 2
1.1. Babylonian algebra 3

and of
 
a 2 a
x − ax = b
2
as x = +b+ .
2 2
How they argued to get these solutions is not known, since in every extant
example, only the procedure to find the solution is described, as in the
example above. It is very likely that they had previously found the solution
of geometric problems, such as to find the length and the breadth of a
rectangle, when the excess of the length on the breadth and the area are
given. Letting x and y respectively denote the length and the breadth of
the rectangle, this problem amounts to solving the system

x−y = a
(1.1)
xy = b.
By elimination of y, this system yields the following equation for x:
x2 − ax = b. (1.2)
If x is eliminated instead of y, we get
y 2 + ay = b. (1.3)
Conversely, equations (1.2) and (1.3) are equivalent to system (1.1) after
setting y = x − a or x = y + a.
They probably deduced their solution for quadratic equations (1.2) and
(1.3) from their solution of the corresponding system (1.1), which could be
obtained as follows: let z be the arithmetic mean of x and y.
 x -

 z - a -
2

 y - a -
In other words, z is the side of the square which has the same perimeter as
the given rectangle:
a a
z =x− =y+ .
2 2
Compare then the area of the square (i.e., z 2 ) to the area of the rectangle
(xy = b). We have
 a  a
xy = z + z−
2 2
4 Quadratic Equations

a 2 

a 2
hence b = z 2 − 2 . Therefore, z = + b and it follows that
2
   
a 2 a a 2 a
x= +b+ and y = +b− .
2 2 2 2
This solves at once the quadratic equations x2 − ax = b and y 2 + ay = b.
Looking at the various examples of quadratic equations solved by Baby-
lonians, one notices a curious fact: the third type x2 + b = ax does not
explicitly appear. This is even more puzzling in view of the frequent occur-
rence in Babylonian tablets of problems such as to find the length and the
breadth of a rectangle when the perimeter and the area of the rectangle are
given, which amounts to the solution of

x+y = a
(1.4)
xy = b.
By elimination of y, this system leads to x2 + b = ax. So, why did Babylo-
nians solve the system (1.4) and never consider equations like x2 + b = ax?
A clue can be discovered in their solution of system (1.4), which is
probably obtained by comparing the rectangle with sides x, y to the square
with perimeter a2 :
 a -

 x - y -

 a - z - ( a − z) -
2 2

One then sets x = a2 + z, hence y = a2 − z, and derives the value of z from

2
the equation b = a2 − z 2 .
Whatever their method, the solution they obtain is
 
a a 2
x= + − b,
2 2
 
a a 2
y= − − b,
2 2
thus assigning one value for x and one value for y, while it is clear to us
that x and y are interchangeable in the system (1.4): we would have given
two values for each one of the unknown quantities, and found
   
a a 2 a a 2
x= ± − b, y= ∓ − b.
2 2 2 2
1.2. Greek algebra 5

In the Babylonian wording, however, x and y are not interchangeable: they

are the length and the breadth of a rectangle, so there is an implicit con-
dition that x ≥ y. According to Gandz [29, 9], the type x2 + b = ax was
systematically and purposely avoided by Babylonians because, unlike the
two other types, it has two positive solutions (which are the length x and
the breadth y of the rectangle). The idea of two values for one quantity
was probably very embarrassing to them, it would have struck Babylonians
as an illogical absurdity, as sheer nonsense.
However, this observation that algebraic equations of degree higher
than 1 have several interchangeable solutions is of fundamental importance:
it is the corner-stone of Galois theory, and we shall have the opportunity to
see to what clever use it will be put by Lagrange and later mathematicians.
As André Weil commented in relation with another topic [87, p. 104]:
This is very characteristic in the history of mathematics. When
there is something that is really puzzling and cannot be under-
stood, it usually deserves the closest attention because some
time or other some big theory will emerge from it.

1.2 Greek algebra

The Greeks deserve a prominent place in the history of mathematics, for be-
ing the first to perceive the usefulness of proofs. Before them, mathematics
were rather empirical. Using deductive reasoning, they built a huge math-
ematical monument, which is remarkably illustrated by Euclid’s celebrated
masterwork “The Elements” (c. 300 B.C.).
The Greeks’ major contribution to algebra during this classical period
is foundational. They discovered that the naive idea of number (i.e., integer
or rational number) is not sufficient to account for geometric magnitudes.
For instance, there is no line segment that could be used as a length unit to
measure the diagonal and √ the side of a square by integers: the ratio of the
diagonal to the side (i.e., 2) is not a rational number, or in other words,
the diagonal and the side are incommensurable.
The discovery of irrational numbers was made among followers of
Pythagoras, probably between 430 and 410 B.C. (see Knorr [46, p. 49]). It
is often credited to Hippasus of Metapontum, who was reportedly drowned
at sea for producing a downright counterexample to the Pythagoreans’ doc-
trine that “all things are numbers.” However, no direct account is extant,
and how the discovery was made is still a matter of conjecture. It is widely
6 Quadratic Equations

believed that the first magnitudes that were shown to be incommensurable

are the diagonal and the side of a square, and the following reconstruction
of the proof has been proposed by Knorr [46, p. 27].
Assume the side AB and the diagonal AC of the square ABCD are
both measured by a common segment; then AB and AC both represent
numbers (= integers) and the squares on them, which are ABCD and
EF GH, represent square numbers. From the figure, it is clear (by counting
triangles) that EF GH is the double of ABCD, so EF GH is an even square
number and its side EF is therefore even. It follows that EB also represents
a number, hence EBKA is a square number.
H D G
@
@
@
@
@
D

K @@C
A
@ @
@ @
A
@ @@ C

@ @
@ @
@@ @@


E B B F

Since the square ABCD clearly is the double of the square EBKA, the
same arguments show that AB is even, hence A
B
represents a number.
We now see that A
B
and A
C
(= EB), which are the halves of AB
and AC, both represent numbers; but A
B
and A
C
are the side and the
diagonal of a new (smaller) square, so we may repeat the same arguments
as above.
Iterating this process, we see that the numbers represented by AB and
AC are indefinitely divisible by 2. This is obviously impossible, and this
contradiction proves that AB and AC are incommensurable.
This result clearly shows that integers are not sufficient to measure
lengths of segments. The right level of generality is that of ratios of lengths.
Prompted by this discovery, the Greeks developed new techniques to oper-
ate with ratios of geometric magnitudes in a logically coherent way, avoiding
the problem of assigning numerical values to these magnitudes. They thus
created a “geometric algebra,” which is methodically taught by Euclid in
“The Elements.”
1.2. Greek algebra 7

By contrast, Babylonians seem not to have been aware of the theoretical

difficulties arising from irrational numbers, although these numbers were of
course unavoidable in the treatment of geometric problems: they simply
replaced them by √ rational approximations. For instance, the following ap-
proximation of 2 has been found on some Babylonian tablet: 1.24.51.10,
i.e., 1 + 24 · 60−1 + 51 · 60−2 + 10 · 60−3 or 1.41421296296296 . . ., which is
accurate up to the fifth place. (See van der Waerden [79, p. 45].)
Although Euclid does not explicitly deal with quadratic equations, the
solution of these equations can be detected under a geometric garb in some
propositions of the Elements. For instance, Proposition 5 of Book II states
[37, v. I, p. 382]:

If a straight line be cut into equal and unequal segments, the

rectangle contained by the unequal segments of the whole to-
gether with the square on the straight line between the points
of section is equal to the square on the half.

 x - y -
A C D B
a
2 z a
2 −z 6

a
2
K H M
L

?
E G F

On the figure above, the straight line AB has been cut into equal seg-
ments at C and unequal segments at D, and the proposition asserts that
the rectangle AH together with the square LG (which is equal to the square
on CD) is equal to the square CF . (This is clear from the figure, since the
rectangle AL is equal to the rectangle DF .)
If we understand that the unequal segments in which the given straight
line AB = a is cut are unknown, it appears that this proposition provides
us with the core of the solution of the system

x+y = a
xy = b.
Indeed, setting z = x − a
2 “the straight line between the points of section,”
8 Quadratic Equations

a 2
it states that b + z 2 = 2 . It then readily follows that
 
a 2
z= −b
2
hence
   
a a 2 a a 2
x= + −b and y = − − b,
2 2 2 2
as in Babylonian algebra. In subsequent propositions, Euclid also teaches
the solution of

x−y = a
xy = b

which amounts to x2 − ax = b or y 2 + ay = b. He returns to the same type

of problems, but in a more elaborate form, in propositions 28 and 29 of
book VI. (Compare Kline [45, pp. 76–77] and van der Waerden [79, p. 121].)
The Greek mathematicians of the classical period thus reached a very
high level of generality in the solution of quadratic equations, since they
considered equations with (positive) real coefficients. However, geometric
algebra, which was the only rigorous method of operating with real numbers
before the nineteenth century, is very difficult. It imposes tight limitations
that are not natural from the point of view of algebra; for instance, a great
skill in the handling of proportions is required to go beyond degree three.
To progress in the theory of equations, it was necessary to think more
about formalism and less about the nature of coefficients. Although later
Greek mathematicians such as Hero and Diophantus took some steps in
that direction, the really new advances were brought by other civilizations.
Hindus, and Arabs later, developed techniques of calculation with irrational
numbers, which they treated unconcernedly, without worrying about their
irrationality. For instance, they were familiar with formulas like
√  √
√
a + b = a + b + 2 ab

which they obtained from (u + v)2 = u2 + v 2 + 2uv by√extracting the

√
square root of each side and replacing u and v by a and b respectively.
Their notion of mathematical rigor was rather more relaxed than that of
Greek mathematicians, but they paved the way to a more formal (or indeed
algebraic) approach to quadratic equations (see Kline [45, Ch. 9, 2]).
1.3. Arabic algebra 9

1.3 Arabic algebra

The next landmark in the theory of equations is the book “Al-jabr w’al
muqabala” (c. 830 A.D.), due to Mohammed ibn Musa al-Khowarizmi [5],
[43].
The title refers to two basic operations on equations. The first is al-jabr
(from which the word “algebra” is derived) which means “the restoration”
or “making whole.” In this context, it stands for the restoration of equality
in an equation by adding to one side a negative term that is removed from
the other. For instance, the equation x2 = 40x − 4x2 is converted into
5x2 = 40x by al-jabr [5, p. 36]. The second basic operation al muqabala
means “the opposition” or “balancing”; it is a simplification procedure by
which like terms are removed from both sides of an equation. For example
(see [5, p. 40]), al muqabala changes 50 + x2 = 29 + 10x into 21 + x2 = 10x.
In this work, al-Khowarizmi initiates what might be called the classical
period in the theory of equations, by reducing the old methods for solving
equations to a few standardized procedures. For instance, in problems
involving several unknowns, he systematically sets up an equation for one
of the unknowns, and he solves by completion of the square the three types
of quadratic equations

x2 + ax = b, x2 + b = ax, x2 = ax + b,

giving the two (positive) solutions for the type x2 + b = ax.

Al-Khowarizmi first explains the procedure, as a Babylonian would have
done:

Roots and Squares are equal to Numbers; for instance, “one

square, and ten roots of the same, amount to thirty-nine
dirhems;” that is to say, what must be the square which, when
increased by ten of its own roots, amounts to thirty-nine? The
solution is this: you halve the number of the roots, which in
the present instance yields five. This you multiply by itself;
the product is twenty-five. Add this to thirty-nine; the sum is
sixty-four. Now take the root of this, which is eight, and sub-
tract from it half the number of the roots, which is five; the
remainder is three. This is the root of the square which you
sought for; the square itself is nine [5, p. 8].

However, after explaining the procedure for solving each of the six types
mx = ax, mx2 = b, ax = b, mx2 +ax = b, mx2 +b = ax and mx2 = ax+b,
2

he adds:
10 Quadratic Equations

We have said enough, says Al-Khowarizmi, so far as numbers

are concerned, about the six types of equations. Now, however,
it is necessary that we should demonstrate geometrically the
truth of the same problems which we have explained in numbers
[43, p. 77].

He then gives geometric justifications for his rules for the last three
types, using completion of the square as in the following example for x2 +
10x = 39:
5 x A

x G x
B

25 D 5

C x

Let x2 be the square AB. Then 10x is divided into two rectangles G
and D, each being 5x and being applied to the side x of the square AB.
By hypothesis, the value of the shape thus produced is x2 + 10x = 39.
There remains an empty corner of value 52 = 25 to complete the square
AC. Therefore, if 25 is added, the square (x + 5)2 is completed, and its
value is 39 + 25 = 64. It then follows that (x + 5)2 = 64, hence x + 5 = 8
and x = 3 (see [5, p. 15]).

It should be observed that the geometry behind this construction is

much more elementary than in Euclid’s Elements, since it is not logically
connected by deductive reasoning to a small number of axioms, but relies
instead on intuitive geometric evidence. From the point of view of algebra,
on the other hand, al-Khowarizmi’s work is largely ahead of Euclid’s, and
it set the stage for the later development of algebra as an independent
discipline.
Another remarkable achievement of the Arab period is a geometric solu-
tion of cubic equations due to Omar Khayyam (c. 1079). For instance, the
solution of x3 + b2 x = b2 c is obtained by intersecting the parabola x2 = by
with the circle of diameter c that is tangent to the axis of the parabola at
its vertex.
1.3. Arabic algebra 11

Q x S c−x R

To prove that the segment x as shown on the figure satisfies x3 + b2 x = b2 c,

we start from the relation x2 = b · P S, which yields
b x
= .
x PS
On the other hand, since the triangles QSP and P SR are similar, we have
x PS
= ,
PS c−x
hence
b PS
= .
x c−x
As P S = b−1 x2 , this equation yields
b x2
= ,
x b(c − x)
hence x3 = b2 c − b2 x, as required.
Omar Khayyam also gives geometric solutions for the other types of
cubic equations by intersection of conics (see van der Waerden [80, Ch. 1
C]), but these brilliant solutions are of little use for practical purposes, and
an algebraic solution was still longed for.
In 1494, Luca Pacioli closes his influential treatise “Summa de Arith-
metica Geometria Proportioni et Proportionalita” (one of the first printed
books in mathematics) with the remark that the solutions of x3 + mx = n
and x3 + n = mx (in modern notations) are as impossible as the quadra-
ture of the circle. (See Kline [45, p. 237], Cardano [13, p. 8].) However,
unexpected developments were soon to take place.
This page intentionally left blank
Other documents randomly have
different content
each name mentioned has a story of its own. Two publishers at the outset
attract our regard; except for them, much would have been lost to English
and American children.
As early as Elizabeth’s time, Rafe Newberie, Master of Stationer’s
Company, published Hakluyt’s “Voyages.” From him, John Newbery
(1713–1767) was descended. Given an ordinary schooling, he was
apprenticed to the printer, William Carnan, who, dying in 1737, divided his
worldly goods between his brother Charles, and his assistant John. The
latter, in order to cement his claim still further, married his employer’s
widow, by whom he had three children, Francis, his successor in the
publishing business, being born on July 6, 1743.
Newbery was endowed with much common sense. He travelled
somewhat extensively before settling in London, and, during his
wanderings, he jotted down rough notes, relating especially to his future
book trade; the remarks are worthy of a keen critic. During this time it is
hard to keep Newbery, the publisher, quite free from the picturesque career
of Newbery, the druggist; on the one hand Goldsmith might call him “the
philanthropic publisher of St. Paul’s Churchyard,” as he did in the “Vicar of
Wakefield,” which was first printed by Newbery and Benjamin Collins, of
Salisbury; on the other hand, in 1743, one might just as well have praised
him for the efficacy of the pills and powders he bartered. Now we find him
a shopkeeper, catering to the captains of ships from his warehouse, and
adding every new concoction to his stock of homeopathic deceptions. Even
Goldsmith could not refrain from having a slap at his friend in “Quacks
Ridiculed.”
He made money, however, and he associated with a literary set among
whom gold was much coveted and universally scarce. The portly Dr.
Johnson ofttimes borrowed a much-needed guinea, an unfortunate privilege,
for he had a habit of never working so long as he could feel money in his
pocket. This generosity on the part of Newbery did not deter Johnson from
showing his disapproval over many of the former’s publications. We can
well imagine the implied sarcasm in his declaration that Newbery was an
extraordinary man, “for I know not whether he has read, or written most
books.” Between 1744 and 1802, records indicate that Newbery and his
successors printed some three hundred volumes, two hundred of which
were juvenile; small wonder he needed the editorial assistance of such
persons as Dr. Johnson and Oliver Goldsmith.
 One of the first pieces the latter let Newbery have, was an article for the
Literary Magazine of January, 1758. Then there came into existence The
Universal Chronicle, or Weekly Gazette in April, 1758, for which Johnson
wrote “The Idler.” In 1759, The British Magazine or Monthly Repository for
Gentlemen and Ladies, by T. Smollett, M.D., and others was announced,
Smollett then taking a rest cure in jail. As though magazines could be
launched in a few hours without sinking, a daily sheet called the Public
Ledger was brought into existence on January 12, 1760, for which
Goldsmith wrote his “Chinese Letters.” Between this date and 1767,
Goldsmith resided in a room on the upper floor of Newbery’s house at
Islington, and the publisher’s son declares that while there Goldsmith read
to him odd parts of “The Traveller” and the “Vicar of Wakefield.” This has
not so much evidence to support it as the fact that bills presented at the front
door for Goldsmith, usually found their way to Newbery for settlement.
How much actual suggestion Goldsmith gave to his publisher-employer,
how far he influenced the character of the books to be printed, cannot be
determined; he and Griffith and Giles Jones assuredly encouraged the
juvenile picture stories. An advertisement of 1765 calls attention to the
following: “The Renowned History of Giles Gingerbread, a little boy who
lived upon learning” [the combination is very appropriate in its
compensating qualities of knowledge and “sweets”]; “The Whitsuntide Gift,
or the Way to be Happy”; “The Valentine Gift, or how to behave with
honour, integrity and humanity”; and “The History of Little Goody Two
Shoes, otherwise called Margery Two Shoes.”
Though he could not wholly escape the charge of catering to the moral
craze of the time, Newbery at least infused into his little books something
of imagination and something of heroic adventure; not sufficient however to
please Dr. Johnson, who once said: “Babies do not want to hear about
babies; they like to be told of giants and castles, and of somewhat which
can stretch and stimulate their little minds.” A thrust at the ignorance of
grown people, regarding what children like, is further seen in Johnson’s
remark that parents buy, but girls and boys seldom read what is calculated
for them.
There are many to praise Newbery’s prints; they were more or less
oddities, even in their own time. Their usefulness was typified in such
books as the “Circle of Sciences,” a compendium of universal knowledge;
their attractiveness was dependent not only upon the beauty of their make,
but also upon the queerness of their format; for example, such volumes as
were called the snuff-box series, or ready references for waistcoat pockets.
Then there was the combination plan, indicated in the announcement: “A
Little Pretty Pocket-Book, intended for the Instruction and Amusement of
Little Master Tommy and Pretty Miss Polly, with an agreeable letter to read
from Jack-the-Giant-Killer, as also a Ball and Pincushion, the use of which
will infallibly make Tommy a Good Boy, and Polly a Good Girl.... Price of
the Book alone, 6d., with a Ball or Pincushion, 8d.”
The variety of Newbery’s ideas resulted in every species of book-
publishing, from a children’s magazine (The Lilliputian), with Goldsmith as
the reputed editor, to a child’s grammar. Interested one moment in a
machine for the colouring of silks and cloths, at another he would be
extolling the fever powders of Dr. James, a whilom schoolfellow of
Johnson. He was untiring in his business activity. His firm changed name
many times, but always Newbery remained the dominant figure. After his
death, the business continued for some while to be identified with its
founder, and for a long period his original policy was continued. Francis
Newbery, the son, left an autobiography of historic value.
Newbery’s real genius consisted in his trading ability. Modern
advertising is not more clever than that practised by this shrewd man of the
eighteenth century. Not only was he in the habit of soliciting puffs, and of
making some of the characters in his stories proclaim the excellencies of his
books, but the personal note and the friendly feeling displayed in his
newspaper items were uncommonly intimate. Witness the London
Chronicle for December 19–January 1, 1765:
“The Philosophers, Politicians, Necromancers, and the learned in every
faculty are desired to observe that on the first of January, being New Year’s
day (oh, that we all may lead new lives!), Mr. Newbery intends to publish
the following important volumes, bound and gilt, and hereby invites all his
little friends who are good to call for them at the Bible and Sun, in St.
Paul’s Churchyard, but those who are naughty to have none.”
Thomas in later years adopted the same method of advertising.
The most thorough piece of research work done by Mr. Charles Welsh is
his “A Bookseller of the Last Century.” Had he aimed at nothing more than
preserving the catalogue of Newbery’s books, he would have rendered a
great service to the library student. But he has in addition written a very
complete life of Newbery. When it is noted that this printer was brought
into business relations with Robert Raikes, and was further connected with
him by the union of Newbery’s son with Raikes’ sister, it is safe to believe
that some of the piousness which crept into the publisher’s wares was
encouraged by the zealous spirit of the founder of Sunday-schools. Raikes
will be dealt with in his proper place.
Newbery was what may be termed an enthusiastic publisher, a careful
manufacturer of books of the flower-and-gilt species. As a friend he has
been pictured nothing loath to help the needy, but always with generous
security and heavy interest attached; he was a business man above all else,
and that betokens keenness for a bargain, a keenness akin to cleverness
rather than to graciousness. In his “Life of Goldsmith,” Washington Irving
is inclined to be severe in his estimate; he writes:
“The poet [Goldsmith] has celebrated him as the friend of all mankind;
he certainly lost nothing by his friendship. He coined the brains of authors
in the times of their exigency, and made them pay dear for the plank put out
to keep them from drowning. It is not likely his death caused much
lamentation among the scribbling tribe.”
One difficulty Newbery had to contend with was the piracy of his books;
there was no adequate protection afforded by the copyright system, and we
read of Goldsmith and Johnson bewailing the literary thievery of the day.
By some it was regarded as a custom to be accepted; by others as a
deplorable condition beyond control. Early American authorship suffered
from the same evil, and Irving and Cooper were the two prominent victims.
The book list of Isaiah Thomas (1749–1831), the Worcester,
Massachusetts printer, shows how freely he drew from the London
bookseller. Called by many the Didot of America, founder of the American
Antiquarian Society, author of one of the most authentic histories of early
printing in this country, he is the pioneer of children’s books for America.
He scattered his presses and stores over a region embracing Worcester and
Boston, Mass.; Concord, N. H.; Baltimore, Md.; and Albany, N. Y. Books
were kept by him, so he vouched, specially for the instruction and
amusement of children, to make them safe and happy. In his “Memoirs”
there is found abundant material to satisfy one as to the nature of reading
for young folks in New England, previous to the Revolution.
Emerson writes in his “Spiritual Laws” regarding “theological
problems”; he calls them “the soul’s mumps and measles and whooping-
cough.” Already the sombre sternness of Colonial literature for children has
been typified in the “New England Primer.” The benefits of divine songs
and praises; the reiteration of the joy to parents, consequent upon the
behaviour of godly children; the mandates, the terrible finger of retribution,
the warning to all sinners lurking in the throat disease which was prevalent
at one time—all these ogres rise up in the Thomas book to crush juvenile
exuberance. Does it take much description to get at the miserable heart of
the early piety displayed by the heroines of Cotton Mather’s volumes, those
stone images of unthinkable children who passed away early, who were
reclaimed from disobedience, “children in whom the fear of God was
remarkably budding before they died”? Writers never fail to say, in
speaking of Thomas White’s “Little Book for Children” (reprint of 1702),
that its immortality, in the face of all its theology, is centred in one famous
untheological line, “A was an archer who shot at a frog.”
What Thomas did, when he began taking from Newbery, was to change
colloquial English terms to fit new environment; the coach no longer
belongs to the Lord Mayor, but to the Governor instead.[29] The text is only
slightly altered. We recognise the same little boys who would become great
masters; the same ear-marks stigmatise the heroines of “The Juvenile
Biographer,” insufferable apostles of surname-meaning, Mistresses
Allgood, Careful, and Lovebook, together with Mr. Badenough. Oh, Betsey
and Nancy and Amelia and Billy, did you know what it was to romp and
play?
The evident desire on the part of Miss Hewins, in her discussion of early
juvenile books, to emphasise the playful, in her quotations from Thomas’
stories, only indicates that there was little levity to deal with. Those were
the days of gilded “Gifts” and “Delights”; the pleasures of childhood were
strangely considered; goodness was inculcated by making the hair stand on
end in fright, by picturing to the naughty boy what animal he was soon to
turn into, and what foul beast’s disposition was akin to that of the fractious
girl. Intentions, both of an educational and religious nature, were excellent,
no doubt; but, when all is estimated, the residue presents a miserable,
lifeless ash.[30]
So far no distinctive writer for children has arisen. The volumes issued
by Newbery represent a conscious attempt to appeal through form to the
juvenile eye. If the books were addressed intentionally to children, their
amusement consisted in some extraneous novelty; it was rarely contained in
the story. Action rather than motive is the redeeming feature of “Goody
Two Shoes.” As for religious training, it was administered to the child with
no regard for his individual needs. He represented a theological stage of sin;
the world was a long dark road, through the maze of which, by his birth, he
was doomed to fight his little way. Life was a probationary period.
It is now necessary to leave the New England book, and to return to it
through another channel. The viewpoint shifts slightly; a new element is to
be added: a self-conscious recognition of education for children. The
sternness of the “New England Primer” possessed strength. The didactic
school, retaining the moral factor,—several points removed from theology
—sentimentalised it; for many a day it was to exist in juvenile literature
rampant. And, overflowing its borders, it was to influence later chap-books,
and some of the later publications of Thomas and Newbery. Through
Hannah More, it was to grip Peter Parley, and finally to die out on
American shores. For “Queechy” and “The Wide, Wide World” represent
the final flowering of this style. In order to retain a clear connection, it is
necessary to watch both streams, educational and moral, one at first
blending with the other, and flourishing in this country through a long list of
New England authors, until, in the end, the educational, increasing in
volume, conquered altogether.

Bibliographical Note
The Babees Book—Ed. Frederick J. Furnivall, M.A. Published for the
Early English Text Society. London, Trübner, 1868.
In the foreword, note the following:
Education in early England:
1. In Nobles’ Houses; 2. At Home and at Private Tutors’; 3. At English
Universities; 4. At Foreign Universities; 5. At Monastic and Cathedral
Schools; 6. At Grammar Schools. Vide the several other prefaces.
This collection contains:
1. The Babees Book, or a ‘Lytyl Reporte’ of How Young People
Should Behave (circa 1475 a.d.); 2. The A B C of Aristotle (1430 a.d.);
3. The Book of Curteisie That is Clepid Stans Puer ad Mensam (1430
a.d.); 4. The boke of Nurture, or Schoole of good maners: For Men,
Servants, and children (1577); 5. The Schoole of Vertue, and booke of
good Nourture for chyldren and youth to learne theyr dutie by (1557).
 Vide Vol. iv, Percy Society, London, 1841:1. The Boke of Curtasye, ed.
J. O. Halliwell. 2. Specimens of Old Christmas Carols, ed. T. Wright. 3.
The Nursery Rhymes of England, ed. J. O. Halliwell, 1842: a. Historical;
b. Tales; c. Jingles; d. Riddles; e. Proverbs; f. Lullabies; g. Charms; h.
Games; i. Literal; j. Paradoxes; k. Scholastic; l. Customs; m. Songs; n.
Fragments.
Vide Vol. xxix, Percy Society, London, 1849. Notices of Fugitive
Tracts and Chap-books printed at Aldermary Churchyard, Bow
Churchyard, etc., ed. J. O. Halliwell.

Ashton, John—Chap-books of the 18th Century.

Ashton, John—Social Life in the Time of Queen Anne.
Bergengren, R.—Boswell’s Chap-books and Others. Lamp, 28:39–44
(Feb., 1904).
Chambers, W.—Historical Sketch of Popular Literature and Its Influence
on Society, 1863.
Cunningham, R. H.—Amusing Prose Chap-books. Glasgow, 1889.
Faxon, Frederick Winthrop—A Bibliography of the Modern Chap-books
and their Imitators (Bulletin of Bibl. Pamphl. No. 11), Boston Book Co.,
1903. [A “freak” movement, beginning with the publication of Chap-
book, at Cambridge, May 15, 1894.]
Ferguson, Chancellor—On the Chap-books in the Bibliotheca
Jacksoniana in Tullie House, Carlisle. Archaeolog. Jour., 52:292 (1895).
Fraser, John—Scottish Chap-books. (2 pts.) New York, Hinton, 1873.
Gerring, Charles—Notes on Printers and Booksellers, with a Chapter on
Chap-books. London, 1900.
Halliwell, James Orchard—A Catalogue of Chap-books, Garlands, and
Popular Histories in the Possession of Halliwell. London, 1849.
Harvard College Library—Catalogue of English and American Chap-
books and Broadside Ballads in 1905 (Bibl. contrib. No. 56).
Nisard, Marie Léonard Charles—Histoire des Livres Populaires ou de la
Littérature du Colportage, depuis l’origine de l’imprimerie jusqu’ à
l’établissement de la Commission d’examen des livres du Colportage (30
Nov., 1852) [2 vols.]. Paris, Dentu, 1864.
Pearson, Edwin—Banbury Chap-books and Nursery Toy Book Literature
of the 18th and Early 19th Centuries. London, 1890.
Pyle, Howard—Chap-book Heroes. Harper’s Monthly Magazine, 81:123
(1890).
Sieveking, S. Giberne—The Mediæval Chap-book as an Educational
Factor in the Past. The Reliquary and Illus. Archaeolog., 9:241 (1903).

The student is referred to the following invaluable reference for matter

relating to New England literature: Catalogue of the American Library of
the Late Mr. George Brinley of Hartford, Conn. (5 pts.) Hartford: Press of
the Case, Lockwood, and Brainard Co., 1878–97. Not completed.
Comprising a list of Books printed at Cambridge and Boston, 1640–
1709.
Pt. I.—The Bay Psalm Book, No. 847; Almanacs, 1646–1707; The
Mathers, Special Chapter of References.
Pt. III.—Bibles, 146; Catechisms and Primers, New England Primer,
158; Music and Psalmody, 163; Psalms and Hymns, 172.
Pt. IV.—Continuation of Psalms and Hymns; Bibl. Ref. to
Denominational Churches, Law, Government, Political Economy,
Sciences, etc.; Popular Literature: Jest Books, Anecdotes, 131; Chap-
books, 135; Books for Children, 139; Mother Goose, 140; Primers and
Catechisms, 141; Educational, 143; Almanacs, 163; Theology, 177.
Pt. V.—Newspapers and Periodicals, 137.
Ford, Paul Leicester—The New England Primer (ed.). N. Y., Dodd,
Mead, 1897. (Edition limited.) [Vide excellent bibliography.]
The New England Primer. Bookman, 4:122–131 (Oct., 1896).
Johnson, Clifton—The New England Primer. New England Mag., n.s.
28:323. (May, 1903.) [Some essential data, but written superficially.]
Marble, Annie Russell—Early New England Almanacs. New England
Mag., n.s. 19:548. (Jan., 1899.) [Vide also Griswold’s Curiosities of
American Literature; Tyler’s History of American Literature; Thomas’s
History of Printing. A collection of Almanacs is owned by the Am.
Antiq. Soc., Worcester, Mass.]

Collin de Plancy—Memories of Perrault.

Dillaye, Frédéric—Les Contes de Perrault (ed.). Paris, 1880.
Lang, Andrew—Perrault’s Popular Tales; edited from the original
editions, with an introduction by. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1888. [A
concise and agreeable introduction to the study of folk-lore in general,
and of a few noted tales in particular.]
Old-Fashioned Fairy Tales—Madame D’Aulnoy, Charles Perrault, etc.
Little, Brown, $1.00.
Old French Fairy Tales—C. Perrault, Madame D’Aulnoy. Little, Brown,
$1.00.
D’Anois, Countess—Fairy Tales, Translated from the French of. (2 vols.)
London, 1817.
D’Aulnoy, Comtesse—Mémoires de la. [Vide Collection pour les jeunes
filles.]
Hale, Edward Everett—Reprint of the Monroe and Francis Mother
Goose.
Green, P. B.—History of Nursery Rhymes. London, 1899.
Headland, J. T.—Chinese Mother Goose. Chicago, 1900.
Halliwell, J. O.—Nursery Rhymes of England; collected principally from
oral tradition. London, 1842. [The Percy Society, Early English Poetry.]
Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales. A Sequel to Nursery Rhymes.
London, 1849.
Ritson, Joseph—Gammer Gurton’s Garland; or, The Nursery Parnassus.
London, 1810; reprint 1866.
Welsh, Charles—An Appeal for Nursery Rhymes and Jingles. Dial
(Chicago), 27:230 (1 Oct., 1899).

Father of Children’s Books—Current Literature, 27:110.

Welsh, Charles—A Bookseller of the Last Century. Griffith, Farren & Co.
London.

Batchelder, F. R.—Patriot Printer. New England Mag., n.s. 25:284 (N.

‘01).
Evans, Charles—American Bibliography. A Chronological Dictionary of
all Books, Pamphlets, and Periodical Publications Printed in the United
States of America. From the genesis of Printing in 1639 Down to and
Including the Year 1820. With Bibliographical and Biographical Notes.
Privately Printed for the Author by the Blakely Press, Chicago. Anno
Domini mdcccciii. Thus far issued: Vol. I. 1639–1729; Vol. II. 1730–
1750; Vol. III. 1751–1764.

Livingston, L. S.—American Publisher of a Hundred Years Ago.

Bookman, 11:530 (Aug., ’00).
Nichols, Charles L.—Some Notes on Isaiah Thomas and his Worcester
Imprints. Am. Antiq. Soc., 1899–1900, n.s., 13:429.
Thomas, Benjamin Franklin—Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. By his
Grandson. Boston, 1874.
Hewins, Caroline M.—The History of Children’s Books. Atlantic, 61:112
(Jan., 1888).
Welsh, Charles.—The Early History of Children’s Books in New
England. New England Mag., n.s. 20:147–60 (April, 1899).
Yonge, Charlotte M.—Children’s Literature of the Last Century. Liv.
Age, 102:373 (Aug. 7, 1869); 612 (Sept. 4, 1869); 103:96 (Oct. 9, 1869).

FOOTNOTES
[15] In “The Child and His Book,” by Mrs. E. M. Field (London: Wells
Gardner, Darton & Co., 1892), the reader is referred to chapters: Before
the Norman Conquest; Books from the Conquest to Caxton; The Child
in England, 1066–1640. Her researches form an invaluable contribution
to the history of children’s books, furnishing sources for considerable
speculation. Much is included of interest to the antiquarian only.
[16] Thomas Newbery was the author. Vide Fugitive Tracts, 1875.
Hazlitt and Huth.
[17] As early as 1262, the macaronic style of delivering sermons was
customary. The gradual substitution of the vernacular for Latin is dealt
with in the introduction to the present author’s edition of “Everyman,”
1903, xxvii.
[18] Chap = An abbreviation of Chapman, which seems to have come
into vulgar use in the end of the 16th c.; but it is rare in books, even in
the dramatists, before 1700. It was not recognised by Johnson. 1577
Breton Toyes Idle Head (Grosart). Those crusty chaps I cannot love. a.
A buyer, purchaser, customer.
Chap-book = f. chap in Chapman + Book. A modern name applied
by book collectors and others to specimens of the popular literature
which was formerly circulated by itinerant dealers or chapmen,
consisting chiefly of small pamphlets of popular tales, etc. 1824 Dibdin
Libr. Comp. It is a chap-book, printed in rather neat black letter. 1882 J.
Ashton Chap-books, 18th Century in Athenæum 2 Sept. 302/1. A great
mass of chap-books.
Chapman = [OE. Céapmann = OHG. Choufman (OHG., MHG.
Koufman), Ger. Kaufmann.] A man whose business is buying and
selling; a merchant, trader, dealer. Vide 890 K. Ælfred Bæda. Vide
further, A New English Dictionary. Murray, Oxford.
[19] “The History of Tom Hickathrift” is regarded as distinctively
English; its literary qualities were likened by Thackeray to Fielding.
Vide Fraser’s Magazine.
[20] The notice ran as follows: “Advertisement: There is now in the
Press, and will suddenly be extant, a Second Impression of The New
England Primer, enlarged, to which is added, more Directions for
Spelling; the Prayer of K. Edward the 6th, and Verses made by Mr.
Rogers, the Martyr, left as a Legacy to his Children. Sold by Benjamin
Harris, at the London Coffee-House in Boston.”
[21] Three typical examples of later reprints are: The N. E. Primer,
Walpole, N. H., I. Thomas & Co., 1814; The N. E. Primer Improved for
the More Easy Attaining the True Reading of English. To which is added
The Assembly of Divines and Episcopal Catechisms. N. Y., 1815; The
N. E. Primer, or an Easy and Pleasant Guide to the Art of Reading,
Mass. Sabbath School Soc., 1841.
[22] Another writer of Contes des fées was Mme. Jeanne Marie Le
Prince de Beaumont (1711–1780), author of “Magasins des Enfans, des
Adolescens et des Dames.”
[23] The Original Mother Goose’s Melody, as first issued by John
Newbery, of London, about a.d. 1760. Reproduced in facsimile from the
edition as reprinted by Isaiah Thomas, of Worcester, Mass., about a.d.
1785. With Introductory Notes by William H. Whitmore. Albany,
Munsell, 1889. [Vide N. E. Hist. and Geneal. Regist., 1873, pp. 144, 311;
Proceed. Am. Antiq. Soc., Oct., 1888, p. 406.]
[24] Lang says the term Mother Goose appears in Loret’s “La Muse
Historique” (Lettre v., 11 Juin, 1650). Vide also Deulin, Charles—Les
Contes de Ma Mère L’Oye, avant Perrault. Paris, 1878; and Halliwell, J.
O.—Percy Society.
[25] He was the author also of a “History of Animated Nature.”
[26] A list of his publications is owned by the Bodleian Library, Oxford.
[27] Vide Notes and Queries, June, 1875, 5th series, iii, 441. Prof.
Edward F. Rimbault.
[28] Gentleman’s Magazine, 1826, Pt. ii, 467–69.
[29] Nurse Truelove’s New Year’s Gift; or, the Book of Books for
Children. Adorned with Cuts; and designed for a Present to every little
Boy who would become a great Man, and ride upon a fine Horse; and to
every little Girl, who would become a great Woman, and ride in a
Governour’s Gilt Coach.
[30] An interesting field of investigation: Early New England Printers.
Mr. Welsh mentions a few in article referred to, p.60. A full list of
Printers and Publishers (North and South) given in Evans’s American
Bibliography.
 III. THE OLD-FASHIONED LIBRARY
A child should not need to choose between right and wrong. It
should not be capable of wrong; it should not conceive of wrong.
Obedient, as bark to helm, not by sudden strain or effort, but in the
freedom of its bright course of constant life; true, with an
undistinguished, painless, unboastful truth, in a crystalline
household world of truth; gentle, through daily entreatings of
gentleness, and honourable trusts, and pretty prides of child-
fellowship in offices of good; strong, not in bitter and doubtful
contest with temptation, but in peace of heart, and armour of
habitual right, from which temptation falls like thawing hail; self-
commanding, not in sick restraint of mean appetites and covetous
thoughts, but in vital joy of unluxurious life, and contentment in
narrow possession, wisely esteemed.—John Ruskin, in an
introduction to Grimm’s “German Popular Tales,” illustrated by
Cruikshank.

I. The Rousseau Impetus.

Mr. E. V. Lucas has compiled two volumes of old-fashioned tales for
modern readers. In his introductions he analyses the qualities of his selected
stories, and it is generally the case that, except for incidental detail, what is
said of one of a kind might just as appropriately be meant for the other. If,
at moments, the editor is prone to confuse quaintness with interest, he
makes full amends by the quick humour with which he deals with the moral
purpose. Perhaps it was part of the game for our great-grandfathers to
expect didacticism, but simply because children were then considered “the
immature young of men” is no excuse, although it may be a reason, for the
artificiality which subserved play to contemplation. Wherever he can
escape the bonds of primness, Mr. Lucas never fails to take advantage; the
character of his selections indicates this as well as such critical remarks as
the following:
“The way toward a nice appreciation of the child’s own peculiar
characteristics was, however, being sought by at least two writers of the
eighteenth century, each of whom was before his time: Henry Brooke, who
in ‘The Fool of Quality’ first drew a small boy with a sense of fun, and
William Blake, who was the first to see how exquisitely worth study a
child’s mind may be.”
Mr. Lucas brings together a number of stories by different persons,
treating them as a group. Should you read them you will have a fairly
distinct conception of early nineteenth century writing for children. But
there is yet another way of approaching the subject, and that is by tracing
influence from writer to writer, from group to group; by seeking for the
impetus without which the story becomes even more of a husk than ever.
Let us conjure up the long row of theoretical children of a bygone age,
painfully pathetic in their staidness, closely imprisoned. They began with
Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778), the iconoclast, who attacked civil
society, the family, the state, the church, and from whose pen the school did
not escape chastisement. His universal cry of “back to nature” frightened
the conservative; even Voltaire could not refrain, on reading the essay
dealing with the origin of inequality among men, to write him: “Never has
any one employed so much genius to make us into beasts. When one reads
your book he is seized at once with a desire to go down on all-fours.”
Rousseau’s “Émile, or Treatise on Education” (1762) was wholly
revolutionary; it tore down ancient theories, such as those practised by Dr.
Isaac Watts upon his “ideal” boy and girl; all existent educational strictures
were ignored. Rousseau applied to childhood his belief in the free unfolding
of man’s nature; however impracticable his methods, he loosed the chains
that held fast the claims of childhood, and recognised their existence. He set
the pendulum swinging in the human direction; he turned men’s minds upon
the study of the child as a child, and, because of this, takes his place at the
head of modern education. He opened the way for a self-conscious striving
on the part of authors to meet the demands of a child’s nature, by furnishing
the best literary diet—according to educational theories—for juvenile
minds. Revolutionary in religious as well as in political and social ideals,
Rousseau’s educational machinery was destined to be infused, by some of
his zealous followers, with a piousness which he never would have
sanctioned.
Training should be natural, says Rousseau; the child should discover
beauty, not be told about it; should recognise spontaneously what he is now
taught. Education should be progressive; at the same time it should be
negative. This sounds contradictory, but Rousseau would keep his child a
child until the age of twelve; he would prevent him from knowing through
any mental effort; he would have him grow like “Topsy” in animal spirits,
his mind unbridled and imbibing facts as his lungs breathe in air. Yet
inconsistency is evident from the outset: the child must observe, at the same
time he must not remember. Is it possible, as Professor Payne challenges, to
form the mind before furnishing it?
Rousseau’s precepts are wise and brilliant. We hear him exclaiming: “It is
less consequence to prevent him [the child] from dying than to teach him
how to live;” “The man who has lived most is not he who has numbered the
most years, but he who has had the keenest sense of life;” “The best bed is
that which brings us the best sleep.” These aphorisms are as apt as those of
Franklin; but in their exercise it is necessary to consider the concomitants
brought into play.
Émile is made an orphan; thus Rousseau gives himself full sway; thus
does he free himself from the necessity of constant consultation with
parents. He is determined to love the boy, to encourage him in his sports, to
develop his amiable instincts, his natural self. Émile must not cry for the
sweets of life; he must have a need for all things rather than a joyful desire
for some. Instead of teaching virtue to him, Rousseau will try to shield him
from a knowledge of all vice. Where Plato recommends certain pastimes, he
will train Émile to delight in himself—thus making of him something of a
youthful egoist. This amœba state, endowed with all physical liberty,
deprived of all dignity of childish memory, is to be the boyhood of Émile.
He “shall never learn anything by heart, not even fables and not even those
of La Fontaine, artless and charming as they are.” Though he does not
possess the judgment to discriminate, he must be told the bare facts, and he
must discover for himself the relations which these facts bear to each other.
At the age of twelve, he shall hardly know a book when he sees it.
Rousseau calls books “cheerless furniture.”
So much for the boy; the girl Sophie fares as ill. Being of the woman
kind as well as of the child brand, she is to develop in even a more
colourless fashion. Fortunately all theory is not human actuality, and Émile
must have peopled his world in a way Rousseau could not prevent. We are
given natural rights and hereditary endowments; even the savage has his
standards and his dreams. Rousseau’s plan of existence ignored the social
evolution of history. Yet Émile might by such training have been saved
many wearisome explanations of the Mr. Barlow type, and it is ofttimes
true, as Mr. G. K. Chesterton claims, that the mysteries of God are
frequently more understandable than the solutions of man.
There was much in Rousseau’s book to rouse opposition; there was
equally as much to appeal to those whose instinctive love of childhood was
simply awaiting the flood gates to be opened. Like the Grimm fairy tales of
suspended animation, on the instant, the paternal instinct began to be active,
the maternal instinct to be motherly. Rousseau—emended, modified,
accentuated—overran England, France, and Germany. Children were now
recognised as children; it remained to be seen whether they were to be
children.
The didactic era is in no way more fitly introduced than with the names
of Madame de Genlis and Arnaud Berquin in France, together with the
Edgeworth and Aikin families and Thomas Day in England. To each, small
space may be allotted, but they are worthy of full and separate
consideration.
Stéphanie Félicité [Ducrest de St. Aubin], Comtesse de Genlis (1746–
1830), is represented upon the library shelves by nearly a hundred volumes.
They were written during the course of a varied existence, at the court of
Louis XV and at home. Her Mémoires are told in a facile and delightful
style, and indicate how she so thoroughly balanced the many conflicting
elements in her duties that she remains for those days a rare example of
wife, mother, society woman, and student. Her discernment of people, as
revealed in these pages, was penetrating and on the whole just; and, though
a typical product of her time, her nature was chastened by a refined and
noble spirit.
The first glimpse she affords of herself is as a child of six, when she was
taken to Paris. There, her brother was placed at a seat of learning, where the
master guaranteed within six weeks’ time to teach him reading and spelling
by means of a system of counters. The little girl’s teeth were shedding—not
a prepossessing phase of growth at best. But, in addition, she was encased
in whalebone stays, her feet were squeezed into tight shoes, her curls done
up in corkscrew papers, and she was forced to wear goggles. The height of
cruelty now followed. Country-bred as she had been, her manner was not in
accord with the best ideas; her awkwardness was a matter of some concern.
In order to give better poise to her head, a thick iron collar was clapped
upon her supple throat. Here she was then, ready for regular lessons in
walking. To run was to court disfavour, for little girls, especially city ones,
were not allowed to do such an improper thing; to leap was an unspeakable
crime; and to ask questions was an unwarranted license. It is small wonder
that later on she should utilise the memory of such abject slavery in “The
Dove,” one of the numerous plays included in her “Theatre of Education.”
Her early years thus prepared Madame de Genlis for the willing
acceptance of any new educational system, especially one which would
advocate a constant companionship between parents and child. For she had
been reared with but exceptional glimpses of her father and mother; during
one of these times she relates how the former, in his desire to make her
brave, forced her to catch spiders in her hands. Such a picture is worthy a
place by the side of Little Miss Muffet.
Like all children, Madame de Genlis was superior to her limited
pleasures; she possessed an imagination which expanded and placed her in
a heroic world of her own making. There is peculiar pleasure in discovering
under narrow circumstances the good, healthy spirit of youth. Madame de
Genlis seemed proud to record a certain dare-devil rebellion in herself
during this period. The pendulum that is made to swing to its unnatural bent
brings with the downward stroke unexpected consequences. And so, when
she married De Genlis, it is no surprise to read that she did so secretly—a
union which is most charmingly traced in the Memoirs.
She developed into a woman with deep religious sensibility; with
forceful personality; with artistic talent, well exemplified by a masterly
execution on the harp. Living in an atmosphere of court fêtes, the drama
occupied no small part in her daily life. Whether at her Château Genlis or
elsewhere, she was ever ready for her rôle in theatricals, as dramatist or as
actress. She played in Molière, and was accounted excellent in her
characters; naught pleased her better than a disguise; beneath it her vivacity
always disported itself.
Her interest in teaching began early; no sooner was she a mother than she
hastened to fix her opinions as to the duties that lay before her, in a written
treatise called “Reflections of a Mother Twenty Years of Age,” views which
in their first form were lost, but which were rehabilitated in the later “Adèle
et Théodore,” consisting of a series of letters on education.
After her mind had been drawn to the style of Buffon—for Madame de
Genlis was a widely read woman—she determined upon improving her own
manner of literary expression. She burned her bridges behind her, and fed
the flames with all of her early manuscripts. Then she started over again to
reconstruct her views, and in her study she made careful notes of what she
fancied of importance for her future use. She was on intimate terms with
Rousseau, took him to the theatre, and conversed with him on education
chiefly, and about diverse matters generally. If she did not agree with him,
Madame de Genlis was told that she had not as yet reached the years of
discretion when she would find his writings suited to her. But Rousseau
enjoyed the vivacious lady, who was kind-hearted and worth while talking
to, notwithstanding the fact that she had the courtier’s love of banter. She
writes:
“Not to appear better than I am, I must admit that I have often been given
to ridicule others, but I have never ridiculed anything but arrogance, folly,
and pedantry.”
Madame de Genlis was not a hero-worshipper; on first meeting
Rousseau, his coat, his maroon-coloured stockings, his round wig suggested
comedy to her, rather than gravity. We wonder whether she asked his advice
regarding the use of pictures in teaching history, a theory which she
originated and which Mrs. Trimmer was to follow in her Bible lessons. Full
as the days were, Madame de Genlis, nevertheless, seems to have been able
to give to her children every care and attention. This must have won the
unstinted commendation of Rousseau, who preached that a boy’s tutor
should be his father, and not a hired person.
Madame de Genlis created her own theatre; she wrote little comedies of
all kinds, which met with great success. Often these would be presented in
the open air, upon platforms erected beneath the shade of forest trees; by
means of the drama she sought to teach her daughters elementary lessons of
life; the stage to her was an educational force. Through the plays her
popularity and reputation increased to such an extent, that the Electress of
Saxony demanded her friendship. She became instructress to the children of
the Duke and Duchess of Chartres, and she prided herself upon being the
first in France to adopt the foreign method of teaching language by
conversation.[31] The rooms for her royal pupils were fitted according to her
special indications. Rough sketches were made upon a wall of blue,
representing medals, busts of kings and emperors of Rome. Dates and
names were frescoed within easy view. Every object was utilised, even to
the fire screens, which were made to represent the kings of France; and over
the balustrades were flung maps, like banners upon the outer walls.
 Up and down such staircases, and through such rooms wandered the
cultivated flowers of royalty. They did not suffer, because their teacher was
luckily human as well as theoretical; because she had a vein of humour as
well as a large seriousness. Her whole educational scheme is described in
her “Lessons of a Governess” and “Adèle et Théodore.” When she engaged
a tutor to attend to the special studies of the young prince in her charge, she
suggested the keeping of an hourly journal which would record the little
fellow’s doings—each night she, herself, to write critical comments upon
the margins of every page. In addition, she kept a faithful record of
everything coming within her own observation; and this she read aloud each
day to her pupils, who had to sign their names to the entries. But much to
the chagrin of Madame de Genlis, the Duke and Duchess refused to take the
time to read the voluminous manuscripts; they trusted to the wisdom and
discretion of the teacher.
Not a moment was lost during these busy periods; history was played in
the garden, and civic processions were given with ponies gaily caparisoned.
Even a real theatre was built for them. Royalty was taught to weave, and
was taken on instructive walks and on visits to instructive places. But,
through all this artificiality, the woman in Madame de Genlis saved the
teacher.
The latter part of her eventful life was filled with vexations, for the
thunders of the French Revolution rolled about her. A short while before the
storm broke, she went on a visit to England, where she came in contact with
Fox and Sheridan, with Walpole and Reynolds; and where she paid a
special visit to the House of Commons and was a guest at Windsor.
All told, here was a writer for children, self-conscious and yet ofttimes
spontaneous in her style. She is interesting because of herself, and in spite
of many of her literary attempts. She is little read to-day, in fact rarely
mentioned among juvenile book lists; education killed a keen perception
and vivacity by forcing them along prescribed lines. One glimpse of
Madame de Genlis in old age is recorded by Maria Edgeworth, who called
on her in 1803.
“She came forward, and we made our way towards her as well as we
could, through a confusion of tables, chairs, and work-baskets, china,
writing-desks and inkstands, and bird-cages and a harp.... She looked like
the full-length picture of my great-great-grandmother Edgeworth you may
have seen in the garret, very thin and melancholy, but her face not so
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