Publications' Places and People:
Mapping 19th century American
Mathematical Journals
Deborah Kent
Drake University
A few introductory comments:
• Today, a broad overview of places and (some) people of periodical
publications in the US involving mathematical content from about
1800-1920 including some data, some vignettes, and some maps.
• Early American journals often involve little-known, peripheral figures, sometimes undocumented, anonymous or difficult to identify.
• Types of outlets for periodical mathematical publication:
Almanacs (Q&A)
Educational journals
Mathematical journals
General scientific journals
Trade publications
Newspapers
• US territorial growth maps from Perry-Castañeda Library
Map Collection, University of Texas at Austin
Key for US Territorial Growth Maps
Earliest outlets for sporadic scientific publication
General Science journals
under society auspices
1. Transactions of the
American Philosophical
Society (1771)
Mathematical content was
surveying or astronomy.
2. Memoirs of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences
(1785)
Applications of mathematics
to geography and navigation.
American periodicals including
mathematical content, 1800-1820
Dates Journal Editor Type Location
1804-
1806 The Mathematical Correspondent George Baron
M
(Q&A) New York, NY
May
1807 The Mathematical Correspondent Robert Adrain
M
(Q&A) Reading, PA
1808 The Analyst or Mathematical Museum Robert Adrain
M
(Q&A) Philadelphia, PA
1814 The Analyst or Mathematical Museum
Hans Hassler&Robert
Patterson
M
(Q&A) Philadelphia, PA
1818--
now The Maine Farmer's Almanac
David Young/Daniel
Robinson (math) A (Q&A) Hallowell, ME
1818--? Hutchins' Improved Family Almanac David Young A (Q&A) New York, NY
1818-
1819 The Monthly Scientific Journal William Marrat
M
(Q&A) New York, NY
1819--
now
The American Journal of Science and the
Arts Benjamin Silliman G New Haven, CT
1820-
1822
The Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s Diary or
United States Almanac Melatiah Nash A (Q&A) New York, NY
Publication centers mostly
align with population centers
From 1771-1834, 84 authors
published mathematics in the
Transactions, the Memoirs,
and the Journal
Approx 40-50% college
graduates.
33 of the authors (41%) were
(briefly) college professors
10 of 33 listed as professors of
mathematics exclusively; 6 of
those 10 from West Point
f
Contributors of mathematics to general science journals
AJSA Contributors of Mathematics
American periodicals including
mathematical content, 1820-1840
1825-
1826 The Mathematical Diary Robert Adrain
M
(Q&A) Reading, PA
1826--
1829 The Mathematical Diary James Ryan
M
(Q&A)
Philadelphia,
PA
1832 The Mathematical Diary Samuel Ward
M
(Q&A) New York, NY
1828-
1831 The Mathematical Companion John D. Williams
M
(Q&A)
1832-
1833 The Schoolmaster Rev. Timothy Clowes
E
(Q&A) Hampsted, NY
1836-
1839 The Mathematical Miscellaney Charles Gill
M
(Q&A) Flushing, NY
1842
The Cambridge Miscellany of Mathematics,
Physics, & Astronomy
Benjamin Peirce and
Joseph Lovering
M
(Q&A)/
R Cambridge, MA
1818--1850 The Maine Farmer's Almanac
David Young/Daniel Robinson (math) A (Q&A)
Morristown, NJ/Hallowell, ME
? -1934 The Maine Farmer's Almanac William Jardine A (Q&A) Morristown, NJ
1818--? Hutchins' Improved Family Almanac David Young A (Q&A) New York, NY
Ongoing almanacs:
Editor Locations, 1800-1840
Recurring as contributors and editors: R. Adrain, B.
Peirce, C. Gill, W. Marrat, O. Root, T. Strong, J. Lovering,
Robert Adrain’s Recurring Editorial Efforts
• In 1807, Adrain edited The Mathematical Correspondent
• Started The Analyst or Mathematical Museum in 1808
• Failed attempt to revive, 1814
• The Mathematical Diary, 1825
• All modeled on The Lady’s and Gentleman’s Diary
Robert Adrain
(1775–1843)
Escaped to America
after Irish rebellion and taught at various
US colleges.
Charles Gill, actuary and journal junkie
• In 1834, Gill founded the Journal of the Institute of Flushing to “stimulate academic achievement among secondary school students.”
• In 1836, started The Mathematical Miscellany “for the advantage of those desirous to progress in the important study of mathematics.”
• Gill posed many Diophantine problems and published excerpts from Cauchy’s Analyse algébrique
! Charles Gill, a British expatriot and actuary,
contributed regularly to Adrain’s Mathematical Diary.
“After the stuff I have crammed
down my throat -- for in my
capacity of Editor I have all
kinds of crude conjectures
thrust upon me which I am
obliged to wade through, bring
into order, and ‘lick into shape’--
you can have no idea of the
absolute pleasure conveyed to
me by the perusal of your
solutions. They are like an oasis
in the desert.”
Gill to Peirce, 1 Aug 1836Benjamin Peirce
(1809-1880)
Editorial Realities
Harvard faculty editors aim high• The Cambridge Miscellany, 1842, broadly
defined mathematical sciences, including Astronomy, Physics, Meteors,&Meteorology
• Peirce and Gill discussed translating articles from Liouville and Crelle
– Cauchy’s optics and Liouville’s integration
Joseph Lovering
(1813-1892)
! Strong promotion of scientific
professionalization with patriotic
argument.
! Want to showcase American work.! Junior and senior challenge problems Benjamin Peirce
(1809-1880)
c. 1800-1850: Potential audience for
mathematical publications• Technical scientific or mathematical training was rare:
West Point (1802), Rensselear Polytechnic Institute (1823), Sheffield School (1843), Lawrence School (1846)
• Educated elite skeptical about science as a profession
• No well-formed identity existed for an American scientist, much less an American mathematician
• Mathematical practitioners were primarily affiliated with high schools or fledgling rural colleges, and most had been trained in other disciplines (law, theology)
• Population estimate approximately 360, not necessarily all subscribed to journals.
• Little concept of fitting work into themes of current research topics, or even the idea of original research
Locations of Mathematical Practitioners, c. 1850
Culture of Early American Journals
• Emphasis on patriotic motivation for Mathematical journals
• Vague interest in “educating readership”
• Posing problems/Publishing solutions
– Mathematical riddles
– Geometric constructions/Euclidean proofs
– Simultaneous solution of
x(x+y+z) =6
y(x+y+z) =12
z(x+y+z) =18
Culture of Early American Journals
• Emphasis on patriotic motivation for
Mathematical journals
• Vague interest in “educating readership”
• Posing problems/Publishing solutions
• Sharing interesting tidbits
– Raw astronomical data
– Electrical facts
– Domestic housecats
Culture of Early American Journals
• Emphasis on patriotic motivation for Mathematical journals
• Vague interest in “educating readership”
• Posing problems/Publishing solutions
• Sharing interesting tidbits
• Discussion/Opinion Pieces– On the usefulness of mathematics
– The role of mathematical education
– Analysis of relative merits of fluxions and differential calculus
Culture of Early American Journals
• Emphasis on patriotic motivation for Mathematical journals
• Vague interest in “educating readership”
• Posing problems/Publishing solutions
• Sharing interesting tidbits
• Discussion/Opinion Pieces
• Often modelled on British Q&A publications
• These periodicals essentially were open to anything of interest to mathematical practitioners, occasional readers, and/or editors
Of interest to a few of the early editors
• Strong promotion of scientific professionalization
with patriotic argument• More challenging problems
• Publishing translations of articles from the
Journal de Mathématiques Pures et Appliquées
and the Journal für die reine und andgewandte
Mathematik–Cauchy’s optics and Liouville’s integration
•70% of contributors responded exclusively to the Junior Department
•Subscribers wanted student problems, not research material
Still…
American periodicals including
mathematical content, 1840-1860
1842
The Cambridge Miscellany of Mathematics, Physics, & Astronomy
Benjamin Peirce and Joseph Lovering
M (Q&A)/R Cambridge, MA
1856-1904 The Railroad Gazette T (Q&A) NYC and Chicago
1858-1860 The Mathematical Monthly J.D. Runkle M (Q&A) Cambridge, MA
1818--1850 The Maine Farmer's Almanac
David Young/Daniel Robinson (math) A (Q&A)
Morristown, NJ/Hallowell, ME
? -1934 The Maine Farmer's Almanac William Jardine A (Q&A) Morristown, NJ
1818--? Hutchins' Improved Family Almanac David Young A (Q&A) New York, NY
Ongoing almanacs:
1852--1980 The American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac Charles Davies A Washington, DC
The American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac Simon Newcomb A Washington, DC
The American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac Benjamin Peirce A Cambridge, MA
Additional almanacs:
The Farmer's Almanac Samuel Hart Wright A (Q&A) Penn Yan, NY
The Knickerbocker Almanac Samuel Hart Wright A (Q&A) Penn Yan, NY
Farmer's Almanac Lodi Manufacturing CO A (Q&A)
Editor Locations, 1840-1860
Common Plight of Early Mathematical Journals
• Editorial demands too much given other responsibilities = Editorial exhaustion with lack of available help
• Constraints for location of publication
– Mathematical typesetting equipment
– Publicity and visibility
– Mathematically competent editor
• Journals funded by editor, or relied on subscriptions for survival, and often suffered financial woes.
American periodicals including
mathematical content, 1860-1880
1818--1850 The Maine Farmer's Almanac
David Young/Daniel Robinson (math) A (Q&A)
Morristown, NJ/Hallowell, ME
? -1934 The Maine Farmer's Almanac William Jardine A (Q&A) Morristown, NJ
1818--? Hutchins' Improved Family Almanac David Young A (Q&A) New York, NY
Ongoing almanacs:
1852--1980 The American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac Charles Davies A Washington, DC
The American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac Simon Newcomb A Washington, DC
The American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac Benjamin Peirce A Cambridge, MA
The Farmer's Almanac Samuel Hart Wright A (Q&A) Penn Yan, NY
The Knickerbocker Almanac Samuel Hart Wright A (Q&A) Penn Yan, NY
Farmer's Almanac Lodi Manufacturing CO A (Q&A)
1858-1860 The Mathematical Monthly J.D. Runkle M (Q&A) Cambridge, MA
1870-1875 Clark's School Visitor Artemas Martin E (Q&A) Erie, PA
1872-1880 Yates County Chronicle Samuel Hart Wright N (Q&A) Penn Yan, NY
1874-1884
The Analyst: A Monthly Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics Joel Hendricks
M (Q&A)/R Des Moines, IA
1875-1876 Normal Monthly Artemas Martin E (Q&A) Erie, PA
1877-1894 Mathematical Visitor Artemas Martin M (Q&A) Erie, PA
1878-now The American Journal of Mathematics James Joseph Sylvester, M/R Baltimore, MD
“the facilities for the
publication of any kind
[of scientific literature
in America] are
extremely restricted,
and have increased but
little during the last
fifty years.” (1876)
Simon Newcomb
Locations of Subscribers to Vol. 1 of the AJM
About 200 subscriptions in the US, as well as a number
in Japan, France, England, Canada, and Germany.
Joel E. Hendricks, Editor of The Analyst
• School through grade 8
• While a wheelwright, read astronomy and navigation
• 2 years of medical school, no degree, 8 year medical practice
• 1850-1860, school examiner, county government official, founding academy president
• 1861, assigned to government survey in Colorado
• 1864, moved to Des Moines, worked in railway surveying, “accumulated a comfortable fortune”
• 1865, honorary A.M.
• 1872, elected to city council
• 1874-1884, edited The Analyst
• 1885, elected fellow A.A.A.S.
• 1891, elected member of N.Y. Mathematical Society
1818-1893
Locations of Subscribers to Vol. 1 of the AJM
“I would be delighted to see a Journal like these be
established in the United States, but I am afraid
that Des Moines is just not the place for it. It is too
far west, on the very borders of civilization. I do not
know, but presume there cannot be at Des Moines
any very extensive mathematical libraries; these are
very necessary for the able conduct of a periodical.
Again do the printing establishments with
you have the extensive founts of type and
and compositors who understand the
setting, necessary in the printing of complex
mathematical formulae?”
“I would be delighted to see a Journal like these be
established in the United States, but I am afraid
that Des Moines is just not the place for it. It is too
far west, on the very borders of civilization. I do not
know, but presume there cannot be at Des Moines
any very extensive mathematical libraries; these are
very necessary for the able conduct of a periodical.
Again do the printing establishments with
you have the extensive founts of type and
and compositors who understand the setting,
necessary in the printing of complex
mathematical formulae?”
“Do not let what I have said discourage you
for your journal…”
Hendricks sustains the journal for 10 years
Inadequate libraries? Find correspondents. ! Carl Pelz, Technische Hochschule, Graz
! J.W.L. Glashier, Trinity College
Cambridge
! La-Societe Physico Mathematique,
Kasan
! Royal Observatory Greenwich
! Giovanni Schiaparelli, Milan
Observatoire
! Nicholas Camille Flammarian, France
! Edward Olney
! James Dwight Dana
! Benjamin Silliman
! John W. Draper
! Orson Pratt
! Simon Newcomb
! Oliver Wendell Holmes
! Christine Ladd Franklin
! Boston Public Library
! U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey
! U.S. Magnetic Observatory
Hendricks sustains the journal for 10 years
Unskilled typesetters? Do it yourself.
Other prices in New York:
– Liouville’s Journal, $5.00
gold per volume
– Crelle’s Journal, $12.00
gold per volume
Hendricks sustains the journal for 10 years
Financial Challenges? Private fortune and reasonable prices.
Other prices in New York:
– Liouville’s Journal, $5.00
gold per volume
– Crelle’s Journal, $12.00
gold per volume
Hendricks sustains the journal for 10 years
Financial Challenges? Private fortune and reasonable prices.
A few advertisments:
Hendricks Virginia Harvard Princeton IAS
! In 1884, Ormand Stone and William Thornton
continued the publication with the name Annals of
Mathematics, Pure and Applied under the auspices of
the University of Virginia.
! The publication moved to Harvard University in 1899.
! In 1911, Princeton University took up
publishing the journal.
! Since 1933, the Annals of Mathematics
has been edited jointly by Princeton
University and the Institute for
Advanced Study.
American periodicals including
mathematical content, 1880-1900
? -1934 The Maine Farmer's Almanac William Jardine A (Q&A) Morristown, NJ
1852--1980 The American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac Charles Davies A Washington, DC
The American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac Simon Newcomb A Washington, DC
The American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac Benjamin Peirce A Cambridge, MA
The Farmer's Almanac Samuel Hart Wright A (Q&A) Penn Yan, NY
The Knickerbocker Almanac Samuel Hart Wright A (Q&A) Penn Yan, NY
Farmer's Almanac Lodi Manufacturing CO A (Q&A)
1874-1884
The Analyst: A Monthly Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics Joel Hendricks
M (Q&A)/R Des Moines, IA
1875-1876 Normal Monthly Artemas Martin E (Q&A) Erie, PA
1877-1894 Mathematical Visitor Artemas Martin M (Q&A) Erie, PA
1878-now The American Journal of Mathematics James Joseph Sylvester M/R Baltimore, MD
1882-1884 Mathematical Magazine Artemas Martin M (Q&A) Erie, PA
1904/1910 Mathematical Magazine M (Q&A)
1884-1899 The Annals of Mathematics Ormand Stone M/R Charlottesville, VA
1899-1911 The Annals of Mathematics M/R Cambridge, MA
1911-now The Annals of Mathematics M/R Princeton, NJ
1891-1895 Bulletin of the New York Mathematical Society New York
1895--now Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society
1894--now American Mathematical Monthly
Springfield, Lancaster, Chicago
1899-now Transactions of the AMS New York
1896 The Mathematical Review
1897 -- University of PA Mathematics publications Philadelphia, PA
Ongoing almanacs:
Editor Locations, 1880-1900
Urban Map 1898
Work still to do: American periodicals
including mathematical content, 1900+1908-1909 The Mathematics Teacher Syracuse, NY
1914? Bibliotheca Mathematica
1915 --- Proceedings of the National Academy of sciences.
1932 Scripta Mathematica
1920s Mathematics News Letter
National Mathematics Magazine LSU
The Schoolday Magazine Artemas Martin E (Q&A) Philadelphia, PA
The Normal Monthly Prof. Edward Broaks E (Q&A) Millersville, PA
Educational Notes and Queries Hon. W.D Henkle E (Q&A) Salem, OH
Illinois Schoolmaster E (Q&A) Chicago, IL
Morton's Monthly E (Q&A) Louisville, KY
Thomas' Almanac A (Q&A) Worcester, MA
Pittsburgh Almanac A (Q&A)
Saturday Evening Post N(Q&A)
Science
Century
Popular Science Monthly
Proceedings of the AAAS Boston
Journal of Education
School Science and Mathematics D.E. Smith
The Scientific Monthly
Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada
Mathematical Reviews
A few concluding comments:• Early American journals often involve little-known, peripheral
figures, sometimes undocumented, anonymous or hard to identify
• Many journals feature episodic publication and abrupt ends. Idiosyncrasies exist, but there are also some common themes: editorial exhaustion, publication constraints, financial unviability.
• Limited evidence about journal finances, which seem central.
• Subscription data and circulation evidence are often elusive.
• How/does the success or failure of one journal impact the prospects for the next? Can specialized mathematical publication be viewed as a sustained effort throughout the 19th century? Ongoing interest.
• Unclear role of Almanac Q&A, ephemerides, and
eclipse calculations.