With Illustrations by the Author, A Square. New and Revised Edition.

By Edwin Abbott. "A SQUARE.".

Seeley and Co., London, 1884. Square 8vo, original cream parchment over stiff wrappers, front panel printed & illustrated. xvi, 102 pp. Numerous diagrams in text by the author. Parchment darkened and a bit stained; but a sound copy, very fresh within. Rare

Second, revised & corrected edition, issued shortly after the first edition of the same year. Although the text is altered only by correction of some typos and the toning down of a couple of controversial passages that satirized women and the treatment of women by men, this edition contains a very important new five-page preface in which some of the mathematical and social themes of the narrative are further developed. Flatland is a marvelous satire of Victorian society—and of human folly at any period—and a brilliant exploration of comparative mathematical concepts.

Bleiler well summarizes it: "The great classic of dimensional thought, this has been a highly influential work in science-fiction. It is very nicely written, amusing, logical, and easy to follow. It is still much the very best of the various books that have explored life in worlds of fewer dimensions than ours." The author, Edwin A. Abbott (1838-1926), was an English clergyman, educator, and author; he was the headmaster of the City of London School and wrote many books on theology and literature. It was most likely Abbott who designed the costly parchment binding and had the book printed on Van Gelder paper. —Bleiler, Early Science Fiction, 2. Reginald 00003.