KNUTH, Donald E.
3:16 Bible Texts Illuminated.
Madison: A-R Editions, Inc., 1991.
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+$500
First Edition of 3:16 Bible Texts Illuminated; Inscribed by Turing Award Winning Computer Scientist Donald Knuth
First edition of one of Donald Knuth's most personal and unusual books, in which the legendary computer scientist takes verse 3:16 of every book of the Bible and presents each in a magnificent illuminated rendering by a leading calligrapher from around the world. Quarto, original pictorial wrappers, richly illustrated throughout with calligraphy. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the dedication page, "to Leonard with best wishes! Don Knuth P.S. I believe the very first copy of this book to be sold was Lyle Ramshaw's Christmas present to his mother in 1991, so the 'Ramshaw' on title page is awesome!" The title page is indeed signed Ramshaw, connecting this copy to the computer scientist Lyle Ramshaw, a former doctoral student of Knuth's at Stanford, whose 1991 purchase Knuth here recalls as the very first sale of the book. In near fine condition. Rare and desirable.
In 3:16 Bible Texts Illuminated, Donald Knuth applies a playful scholarly method he calls stratified random sampling to the Bible, selecting chapter three, verse sixteen from each of its books and studying each verse in depth. To accompany the project he enlisted some of the finest calligraphers in the world to render each verse as a work of illuminated art, making the book as much a treasury of modern calligraphy as a work of biblical study. Donald Knuth, creator of the TeX typesetting system and author of the monumental The Art of Computer Programming, is one of the founding figures of computer science and a recipient of the Turing Award. 3:16 stands apart in his output as a personal meditation uniting his lifelong loves of scholarship, typography, and faith.
