About the Text
This text of this version of Euclid’s Elements is similar to Heath's edition which he translated from Heiberg's definitive edition in Greek, but it is slightly less literal to make it more readable.
- Heath, Sir Thomas Little (1861-1940)
The thirteen books of Euclid's Elements translated from the text of Heiberg with introduction and commentary.
Three volumes. University Press, Cambridge, 1908.
Second edition: University Press, Cambridge, 1925.
Reprint: Dover Publ., New York, 1956.
Reviewed: Isis 10 (1928), 60-62.
- Heiberg, J. L. (Johan Ludwig) (1854-1928), and H. Menge.
Euclidis opera omnia.
8 vol. & supplement, in Greek. Teubner, Leipzig, 1883-1916. Edited by J. L. Heiberg and H. Menge.
Heath's excellent critical commentary is as important as the text itself, and since Heath's edition is in publication (Dover), a purchase of that edition is recommended. The text of Heath's translation of Euclid’s Elements is also available on-line at the Perseus Project at Tuft's University starting with the first definition of book I. Not just Heath's translation, but his commentary as well as the Greek text is available at the Perseus Project. (The figures are not included.)
Other versions of Euclid’s Elements
I have also used other versions of the Elements for this translation including
- Peyrard, F.
Les Oeuvres d'Euclide, en Grec, en Latin et en Français. Three volumes. M. Patris, Paris, 1814.
- Todhunter's edition (1862) of Simson's translation (various editions from 1756-1830) which was published in 1933 by Dent, London, with an introduction by Heath.