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British Mathematicians Angry
Over Sale of Rare Manuscripts

British mathematicians and historians are angry over the sale of an extensive collection of rare mathematics manuscripts by Keele University in Staffordshire to an American collector, who is believed to have broken it up for export. Money from the sale is to be spent on the university library.

The London Telegraph reported December 22 that historians believe the collection of around 1,400 books and pamphlets was worth far more than the £1 million for which it was sold. The collection included the first three editions of Isaac Newton's Principia, a similar edition of which was sold at auction in 1998 for about £200,000.

“This sale is a national disgrace,” Professor David Singmaster of South Bank University told the Telegraph. “One million pounds is unlikely to solve Keele's financial problems and if money was the principal reason for the sale . . . , I estimate the collection was worth several million.”

Posted January 4, 1999.

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