[2], v, [1 blank], [contents leaf with verso numbered iv], 242 pp. (8vo) 22.5x14.3 cm (8¾x5½"), original purple-brown blindstamped cloth with lozenge design on the covers, spine titled in gilt without Boole's name. First Edition, first binding, early and rare state.

Early and uncommon issue of a foundational treatise in mathematical theory. Boole's work was recognized as important in its own time, and underlies the development of computers in the 20th century. The two-valued algebra that Boole explored in this work is critical to computer technology. In his famous master's thesis at M.I.T in 1937, C. E. Shannon recognized that the true/false values in Boole's notation are equivalent to the two possible states of an electrical circuit, i.e. open and closed. This realization led almost directly to binary computing; the ability of switching circuits to conduct logical operations is the foundation of all electronic digital computers, and is the linchpin of the digital universe. The book is bibliographically complex. This copy is an early issue, with L2 & Q8 cancelled as usual, the title leaf uncancelled (with the Walton and Maberly imprint present), and without the note leaf pertaining to proposition II, p. 261 and the catalogue found at the end of some copies (the presence of these two connotes the second issue, according to Norman). This copy does not have the errata leaf in either of the expected locations (in Norman's first issue it is at the end of the work, and in his second issue it is at the end of the preliminaries), nor is there any evidence that it was ever present - suggesting that it is an earlier issue than either of those described by Norman. A quick census of copies sold in recent years reveals several examples that fail to conform to Norman's taxonomy, which does not appear definitive. Norman 266 (not conforming to any of his three states, though clearly akin to his state one or state two); Hook & Norman Origins of Cyberspace 224. Bookplate of East Indian College Library.