Collection, use, dispersal: the library of Charles Hutton and the fate of Georgian mathematics (Q6634936)

The purpose of this text is to discuss first Hutton's activities as a collector of mathematical prints from eighteenth-century Britain and beyond. He early acquired a reputation as a buyer and collector of books. Hutton's origins lay in Newcastle upon Tyne and its environments. Charles Hutton (1737--1823) collected books from his childhood onwards and by the time of his retirement owned what he and his friends believed was the best mathematical library in England. According to the author, Hutton had been one of the leading voices in English writing about mathematics for two decades, and the dispersal of his collection of mathematical books attracted regretful comment from various quarters. Thus, the author examines Hutton's activities as a collector of mathematical texts from various sources, his work as a disseminator of what he learned from those texts, and the circumstances that led to the dispersal of his library and the replacement of his mathematical culture. According to the author, Charles Hutton did not acquire mathematical texts in print and manuscript merely to improve his mind, however, nor indeed to fuel his viva voce teaching. He also worked over many years as an author of his mathematical texts, in which he represented much of what he had assimilated from others. Hutton's first book was The Schoolmaster's Guide.\N\NFor the entire collection see [Zbl 1539.01004].