| AdminHistory | Born in Potsdam, Prussia, 1804; became extraordinary professor of mathematics at the University of Knigsberg, 1827; ordinary professor, 1829; first became known through his work on number theory; unaware of the work of the Norwegian Niels Henrik Abel, formulated a theory of elliptic functions based on four theta functions; his results in elliptic functions were published in 'Fundamenta Nova Theoriae Functionum Ellipticarum' ('New Foundations of the Theory of Elliptic Functions'), 1829; demonstrated that, just as elliptic functions can be obtained by inverting elliptic integrals, hyperelliptic functions can be obtained by inverting hyperelliptic integrals, 1832; this led him to the formation of the theory of Abelian functions of p variables; died in Berlin, 1851. |
| CustodialHistory | The manuscript formed part of the library of John Thomas Graves (1806-1870), mathematician and Professor of Jurisprudence at University College London, whose collection included manuscripts dating from the 15th to the 19th century, relating mainly to mathematics. Formerly Graves 2791. Other pressmark: 142.f.2. |