Darren Sutherland
Specialist
Lot 3
A NON-EUCLIDEAN AUTOGRAPH. LOBACHEVSKY, NIKOLAI. 1792-1856. Document Signed ("Lobachevsky"), and accomplished in Manuscript, a letter of designation in his role as Curator of Regional Education in Kazan,
1 – 10 June 2020, 13:00 EDT
Online, New YorkSold for US$31,325 inc. premium
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A NON-EUCLIDEAN AUTOGRAPH.
LOBACHEVSKY, NIKOLAI. 1792-1856. Document Signed ("Lobachevsky"), and accomplished in Manuscript, a letter of designation in his role as Curator of Regional Education in Kazan, 4 pp, bifolium printed and written on the first leaf, folio, Kazan, November 15th, 1846.
A BLACK PEARL OF SCIENTIFIC AUTOGRAPHS — the exceptionally rare autograph of the great Russian mathematician, Nikolai Lobachevsky, discoverer of non-Euclidean Geometry. Lobachevsky first outlined his new vision of geometry in an 1826 lecture to colleagues at Kazan University, and in 1829-30 he formally published in the Kazan Messenger, the university journal, the first printed work on non-Euclidean geometry. Lobachevsky radically reshaped our conception of geometry and logic, formulating a consistent hyperbolic (non-Euclidean) geometry without the existence of parallel lines, and unshackling the creative imagination of both the sciences and the arts, transforming our very sense of self.
Representing a major paradigm shift, Lobachevsky's revolutionary work is one of the primary intellectual foundations of our modern world. The anti-dogmatic quality of Lobachevsky's alternative way of thinking has reshaped our philosophy, forcing a reappraisal of the subject/object boundaries of our experience, elevating our own sense of creative contribution to the apparent form of the universe, and fostering the exploration of new modes of logic and formal systems. From Riemann to Einstein, Lobachevsky's work has profoundly influenced the course of modern physics; and one only need think of Picasso's cubism to understand the liberating effect it has had on aesthetic culture.
Lobachevky's autograph is of the greatest rarity. He spent his life in the employ of the University of Kazan, and his archives were housed within the institution. He was a champion of education in the extensive Kazan district throughout his career, and was instrumental in stopping the spread of a virulent cholera epidemic (1830–31) among the teachers and students of the university by means of a rigid quarantine. The present document, a letter of designation for a new teacher, is signed in his capacity as the assistant curator for the entire Kazan region (a post he served in from 1846-48).
We can trace no Lobachevsky autograph appearing at auction during the past 50 years. OF THE UTMOST RARITY AND DESIRABILITY.
A BLACK PEARL OF SCIENTIFIC AUTOGRAPHS — the exceptionally rare autograph of the great Russian mathematician, Nikolai Lobachevsky, discoverer of non-Euclidean Geometry. Lobachevsky first outlined his new vision of geometry in an 1826 lecture to colleagues at Kazan University, and in 1829-30 he formally published in the Kazan Messenger, the university journal, the first printed work on non-Euclidean geometry. Lobachevsky radically reshaped our conception of geometry and logic, formulating a consistent hyperbolic (non-Euclidean) geometry without the existence of parallel lines, and unshackling the creative imagination of both the sciences and the arts, transforming our very sense of self.
Representing a major paradigm shift, Lobachevsky's revolutionary work is one of the primary intellectual foundations of our modern world. The anti-dogmatic quality of Lobachevsky's alternative way of thinking has reshaped our philosophy, forcing a reappraisal of the subject/object boundaries of our experience, elevating our own sense of creative contribution to the apparent form of the universe, and fostering the exploration of new modes of logic and formal systems. From Riemann to Einstein, Lobachevsky's work has profoundly influenced the course of modern physics; and one only need think of Picasso's cubism to understand the liberating effect it has had on aesthetic culture.
Lobachevky's autograph is of the greatest rarity. He spent his life in the employ of the University of Kazan, and his archives were housed within the institution. He was a champion of education in the extensive Kazan district throughout his career, and was instrumental in stopping the spread of a virulent cholera epidemic (1830–31) among the teachers and students of the university by means of a rigid quarantine. The present document, a letter of designation for a new teacher, is signed in his capacity as the assistant curator for the entire Kazan region (a post he served in from 1846-48).
We can trace no Lobachevsky autograph appearing at auction during the past 50 years. OF THE UTMOST RARITY AND DESIRABILITY.