The Earliest Arithmetics in English

Before the Renaissance brought algebra and Hindu-Arabic numerals to English shores, calculation was a mysterious art guarded by Latin scholars. This 1922 scholarly compilation recovers the rare English arithmetic texts that survive from the 15th century, revealing a time when most mathematical literature was written in Latin and an English reader seeking to learn calculation would find almost nothing in their own language. Editor Robert Steele reconstructs two major treatises that formed the backbone of early English mathematical education, tracing how schoolmasters taught counting, computation with counting boards, and algorithmic procedures to students who would become merchants, craftsmen, and navigators. The introduction illuminates the fascinating transition from Roman numerals to more efficient systems, the cultural dominance of figures like Sacro Bosco and Alexander de Villa Dei, and the practical anxieties that drove ordinary people to learn arithmetic beyond simple record-keeping. For anyone curious about the material history of ideas, these fragile texts offer something remarkable: a glimpse into the mental toolbox that built the English-speaking world, one calculation at a time.