Mathematical Theory of Communication First Edition - Claude Shannon - Bauman Rare Books

Mathematical Theory of Communication

Claude SHANNON

Item#: 84789 We're sorry, this item has been sold

Mathematical Theory of Communication

“THE MOST FAMOUS WORK IN THE HISTORY OF COMMUNICATION THEORY”: FIRST SEPARATE EDITION OF CLAUDE SHANNON’S PIONEERING MATHEMATICAL THEORY OF COMMUNICATION, 1948

SHANNON, Claude. A Mathematical Theory of Communication. New York: Bell Telephone Laboratories, [1948]. Slim quarto, original stiff blue-and-gray wrappers, staple bound as issued; pp. 80. Housed in a custom clamshell box.

First separate edition of Claude Shannon’s revolutionary work on information theory, essential to the development of computer technology and the foundation of the modern information age, a scarce offprint published the same year as its serial appearance in two issues of Bell System Technical Journal 27 (1948), in original wrappers.

“American mathematician Claude Shannon developed information theory by 1948” (Mount & List, Milestones, 65). Shannon’s revolutionary shift in Mathematical Theory “was to give specific technical definitions of concepts general enough to obtain in any situation where information is manipulated or transmitted… At the heart of the theory was a new conceptualization of information… He accomplished this transformation by distinguishing information from meaning. He reserved ‘meaning’ for the content actually included in a particular message. He used ‘information’ to refer to the number of different possible messages that could be carried along a channel… What began as a study of transmission over telegraph lines [by Nyquist and Hartley] was developed by Shannon into a general theory of communication applicable to telegraph, telephone, radio, television and computing machines” (Aspray, Introduction, Proceedings of a Symposium, 119-22). This paper, “the most famous work in the history of communication theory… was also responsible for introducing the term ‘bit’ (for binary digit) into the published literature, and for giving the term its current meaning… The word itself was suggested by John Tukey in 1946” (Origins of Cyberspace 880). Initially appearing in two parts in Bell System Technical Journal 27 (July and October 1948). Library inkstamp to front wrapper. Five small punch holes at left margin not affecting text.

Text fine; wrappers fresh with only minor separation at spine seam. A highly desirable about-fine copy.

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Aquatint Copperplate process by which the plate is “bitten” by exposure to acid. By changing the areas of the plate that are exposed and the length of time the plate is submerged in the acid bath, the engraver can obtain fine and varying shades of gray that closely resemble watercolor washes. Although the name contains the word “tint”, this is a black-and-white printing process; aquatint plates can often be hand colored, however.
Armorial Used to describe a binding bearing the coat of arms of the original owner, or with bookplates incorporating the owner’s arms.
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Calf Binding material made from cowhide—versatile, durable, usually tan or brown in color, of smooth texture with no or little apparent grain. Readily marbled (“tree calf”), mottled, diced, colored, polished, tooled in gilt or blind, even scented (known as “russia”). Reverse calf, with a distinctive suede-like texture, is occasionally used.
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Duodecimo (12MO) Smaller than an octavo, typically less than six inches tall; smaller formats, such as 24mo and 32mo, are uncommon.
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Offset The unintended transfer of ink from one printed page to an adjacent page.
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Wood-Engraving Engraving made with the graver or burin on the cross-section of a piece of boxwood; the harder wood and finer tools allow for more delicate, finely detailed images, while the block can still be set in the page alongside text and printed on the same stock as the text. While much older, wood engravings enjoyed an important renaissance in the late eighteenth century through Thomas Bewick and continued in popularity thorugh the nineteenth century.
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