Found Art in Antique Books and Writing to the Future, 1808

JF Ptak Science Books  Quick Post

• "These leaves were cut out by my predecesor and put/ in by me.  D.H. Clark, January 20, 1808",  detail, inscribed on page 29 of Simson's Elements, 1808.

There was a leaf missing in Mr. Clark's book--the leaf for page 27/28--some of which he salvaged and placed back into the book on tabs, which you can see at the side of the book.  He also did not want to have any future owner of this book to think ill of him for having disfigured it.

The text is by Dr. Robert Simson, and called Elements of the Conic Sections, and was printed in New York in 1804. It was owned at some earlier point by Joseph Cheetham ("Princeton"), and then by L(ewis) D. Bevier ("bought of Cheetham") and then probably by Clark. They were all at Princeton College, and all associated with the bachelor of arts class of 1806 (though Cheetham seems to have graduated some years later). 

I am the owner of the book today, some 200 years later, and I hear Mr. Clark.  Somehow the page got loose Mr. Clark put it back. The end. 

There is also a bit of found poetry in that bit of text:

Being equal to

therefore

the circles, and

the square rectangle

therefore

are.

Comments

[Jeff Donlan]

Beautiful found poem. I can hear e.e. cummings saying "Ah!"

Or, "!ah"

[John F. Ptak]

Thanks Jeff. I'm working on a po-etoscope tonight--maybe it'll be done for tomorrow...