first printed edition of Euclid's
Elements, Venice, 1482. Scholars
named this the Ratdolt edition in
honor of the printer and publisher.
It is not known how the figures
were printed in the text.
___________
Notice this 1492 edition opens with the illustration of our classic
"undefined terms"
-the point, line and plane,
the cornerstones of plane geometry.
However, purists should note that until
David Hilbert wrote his Grundlagen der Geometrie, 1899 these three basic terms were the opening definitions in hundreds, if not thousands of editions of Euclid's "Elements."
