Euclid's Elements previous next

Who wrote this "ancient note" in Euclid's Elements?

First of all, if you hope to see an ancient manuscript by Euclid with a scribbled note in the margin, prepare to be disappointed!

The oldest fragments of the Elements date to centuries after Euclid's death: a couple from the Fayum region near the Nile, and some from a garbage dump in the Egyptian town of Oxyrhynchus:







Picture from Bill Casselmann, at his webpage One of the oldest extant diagrams from Euclid.