Special Collections Exhibit: Shapes in Books: Triangles, Squares, Circles

January 19, 2016
The four, the three, the two, the one (embedded in a triangle, square, and circle). From Heinrich Khunrath, Amphitheatrum sapientiae aeternae (Hamburg, 1595). Duveen Collection, Special Collections, University of Wisconsin-Madison
The four, the three, the two, the one (embedded in a triangle, square, and circle). From Heinrich Khunrath, Amphitheatrum sapientiae aeternae (Hamburg, 1595). Duveen Collection, Special Collections, University of Wisconsin-Madison

December 3, 2015, through mid-spring 2016

In recent reflections on printed books and their history, the so-called geometry of the page has come in for considerable discussion. This exhibit takes a slightly different approach to matters geometrical — showcasing rare books on geometry, to be sure, but also other instances of geometrical shapes (in particular, triangles, squares, and circles) as rendered in type, ornament, illustrations, and metaphors.