George Arthur Plimpton
Encyclopedia
George Arthur Plimpton was an American publisher and philanthropist.
Plimpton was born in Walpole, Massachusetts
, the son and grandson of iron manufacturers. He graduated from the Phillips Exeter Academy
in 1873 and Amherst College
in 1876. He attended Harvard Law School
for a year before joining the publishing firm of Ginn, Heath & Co., a publisher of educational textbooks later known as Ginn & Co., which he would eventually head.
Plimpton was an avid collector of historical books and manuscripts, focusing on the history of education. Shortly before his death in 1936, Plimpton donated numerous items to Columbia University
's Butler Library
, including 317 medieval and Renaissance manuscripts that made Columbia's collection in that area one of the most significant in the country. One of his donations, Plimpton 322
, is a Babylonia
n clay tablet
from around 1800 BCE purchased from antiquarian Edgar James Banks
. It consists of a table of cuneiform
numbers, specifically Pythagorean triple
s. Described as "one of the world's most famous mathematical artifacts", it may have been a set of solutions for mathematics students. Other donated items included:
Active in educational philanthropy, Plimpton was a trustee of Amherst College
, Barnard College
, and Constantinople College in Istanbul
.
Plimpton was the author of The Education of Shakespeare and The Education of Chaucer.
Plimpton was married to Francis Taylor Pearsons from 1892 until her death in 1900. Their son was Francis Taylor Pearsons Plimpton, father of author George Plimpton
. In 1917 he married Fanny Hastings, a descendant of Thomas Hastings
. Their children were Calvin Hastings Plimpton and Emily Plimpton.
Plimpton was born in Walpole, Massachusetts
Walpole, Massachusetts
Walpole is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located about south of Boston and north of Providence, Rhode Island. The population was 24,070 at the 2010 census. Walpole was first settled in 1659 and was considered a part of Dedham until officially incorporated in 1724...
, the son and grandson of iron manufacturers. He graduated from the Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy is a private secondary school located in Exeter, New Hampshire, in the United States.Exeter is noted for its application of Harkness education, a system based on a conference format of teacher and student interaction, similar to the Socratic method of learning through asking...
in 1873 and Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
in 1876. He attended Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
for a year before joining the publishing firm of Ginn, Heath & Co., a publisher of educational textbooks later known as Ginn & Co., which he would eventually head.
Plimpton was an avid collector of historical books and manuscripts, focusing on the history of education. Shortly before his death in 1936, Plimpton donated numerous items to Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
's Butler Library
Butler Library
The Nicholas Murray Butler Library, commonly known simply as Butler Library, is the largest single library in the Columbia University Library System, which contains over 9.3 million books, and is one of the largest buildings on the Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University.Proposed as...
, including 317 medieval and Renaissance manuscripts that made Columbia's collection in that area one of the most significant in the country. One of his donations, Plimpton 322
Plimpton 322
Plimpton 322 is a Babylonian clay tablet, notable as containing an example of Babylonian mathematics. It has number 322 in the G.A. Plimpton Collection at Columbia University...
, is a Babylonia
Babylonia
Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as a major power when Hammurabi Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as...
n clay tablet
Clay tablet
In the Ancient Near East, clay tablets were used as a writing medium, especially for writing in cuneiform, throughout the Bronze Age and well into the Iron Age....
from around 1800 BCE purchased from antiquarian Edgar James Banks
Edgar James Banks
Edgar James Banks . American diplomat, antiquarian and novelist. Banks was an antiquities enthusiast and entrepreneurial roving archaeologist in the closing days of the Ottoman Empire, who has been held up as an original for the fictional composite figure of Indiana Jones...
. It consists of a table of cuneiform
Cuneiform
Cuneiform can refer to:*Cuneiform script, an ancient writing system originating in Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium BC*Cuneiform , three bones in the human foot*Cuneiform Records, a music record label...
numbers, specifically Pythagorean triple
Pythagorean triple
A Pythagorean triple consists of three positive integers a, b, and c, such that . Such a triple is commonly written , and a well-known example is . If is a Pythagorean triple, then so is for any positive integer k. A primitive Pythagorean triple is one in which a, b and c are pairwise coprime...
s. Described as "one of the world's most famous mathematical artifacts", it may have been a set of solutions for mathematics students. Other donated items included:
- The first printed edition of EuclidEuclidEuclid , fl. 300 BC, also known as Euclid of Alexandria, was a Greek mathematician, often referred to as the "Father of Geometry". He was active in Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy I...
's Elements of Geometry from 1482. - The only known copy of the Treviso ArithmeticTreviso ArithmeticThe Treviso Arithmetic, or Arte dell'Abbaco, is an anonymous textbook in commercial arithmetic written in vernacular Venetian and published in Treviso, Italy in 1478.The author tells us the reason for writing this textbook:...
, a Venetian math textbook. - An annotated copy of the works of HomerHomerIn the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
owned by Philip Melanchthon and inscribed by Martin LutherMartin LutherMartin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
. - A copy of HerodotusHerodotusHerodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
' Histories owned by Desiderius ErasmusDesiderius ErasmusDesiderius Erasmus Roterodamus , known as Erasmus of Rotterdam, was a Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, and a theologian....
.
Active in educational philanthropy, Plimpton was a trustee of Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
, Barnard College
Barnard College
Barnard College is a private women's liberal arts college and a member of the Seven Sisters. Founded in 1889, Barnard has been affiliated with Columbia University since 1900. The campus stretches along Broadway between 116th and 120th Streets in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough...
, and Constantinople College in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
.
Plimpton was the author of The Education of Shakespeare and The Education of Chaucer.
Plimpton was married to Francis Taylor Pearsons from 1892 until her death in 1900. Their son was Francis Taylor Pearsons Plimpton, father of author George Plimpton
George Plimpton
George Ames Plimpton was an American journalist, writer, editor, and actor. He is widely known for his sports writing and for helping to found The Paris Review.-Early life:...
. In 1917 he married Fanny Hastings, a descendant of Thomas Hastings
Thomas Hastings (colonist)
Thomas Hastings was a prominent English immigrant to New England, one of the approximately 20,000 immigrants who came as part of the Great Migration. A Deacon of the church, among his many public offices he served on the Committee of Colony Assessments in 1640 and as Deputy for Watertown to the...
. Their children were Calvin Hastings Plimpton and Emily Plimpton.