KREISEL, Georg (1923-2015) - photo 1
KREISEL, Georg (1923-2015) - photo 2
KREISEL, Georg (1923-2015) - photo 3
KREISEL, Georg (1923-2015) - photo 4
KREISEL, Georg (1923-2015) - photo 5
KREISEL, Georg (1923-2015) - photo 6
KREISEL, Georg (1923-2015) - photo 7
KREISEL, Georg (1923-2015) - photo 8
KREISEL, Georg (1923-2015) - photo 9
KREISEL, Georg (1923-2015) - photo 10
KREISEL, Georg (1923-2015) - photo 11
KREISEL, Georg (1923-2015) - photo 12

KREISEL, Georg (1923-2015)

Lot 61
13.12.2023 11:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 1 890
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1105672
Lot 61 | KREISEL, Georg (1923-2015)
Estimate value
£ 3 000 – 5 000
KREISEL, Georg (1923-2015)

13 offprints relating to mathematical logic and proof theory. 1949-1956.

An important collection of 13 offprints by Wittgenstein’s most respected student. Kreisel was born into a Jewish family in Graz, Austria. In 1938, just before the Anschluss, his family sent him to Britain, where he read mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge. There he was taught by Wittgenstein, who ‘shocked Rush Rhees by declaring Kreisel to be the most able philosopher he had ever met who was also a mathematician’ (Ray Monk, Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius, p.498). During World War II he served in the Admiralty where he met Francis Crick, and they became life-long friends. After the war, he taught at the University of Reading 1949-1954, and the majority of the offprints present here come from this period. Kreisel’s work centred on mathematical logic, stemming from Hilbert’s work on consistency in mathematics. Kreisel is probably best known for his so-called ‘unwinding’ program, whose aim was to extract constructive content from superficially non-constructive proofs. The fundamental paper outlining this program is present here in both its offprinted parts: ‘The interpretation of non-finitist proofs’ from The Journal of Symbolic Logic, 1951-2. All the offprints present in this lot are contained in a very worn envelope addressed to E. H. Neville (1889-1961) who was the mathematician who convinced Srinivasa Ramanujan to come to England. After World War I, Neville held the chair of mathematics at Reading University, and therefore was well acquainted with Kreisel.



‘Some remarks on integral equations with kernels.’ Offprint from: Proceedings of the Royal Society. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Vol. 197, No. 1049, 1949.

Octavo (256 x 172mm). Pp. 24, 160-183. Original stapled printed wrappers (a very clean copy). Provenance: authorial presentation inscription to an unknown recipient (‘With compliments G.K.’).



‘Some remarks on the foundations of mathematics.’ Offprint from: Mathematical Gazette. Vol. 35, 1951.

Octavo (220 x 140mm). Pp. 6, 23–28. Original stapled printed wrappers (a very clean copy).



‘On the interpretation of non-finitist proofs – part I[-II].’ Offprints from: The Journal of Symbolic Logic. Vol. 16, No. 4, 1951 and Vol. 17, No. 1, 1952.

2 parts, octavo (252 x 172mm). Original printed drab stapled wrappers (staples rusted, upper cover to part 1 lightly discoloured,



‘Some elementary inequalities.’ Offprint from: Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, Proceedings, series A, vol. 55, 1952.

Octavo (260 x 180mm). Pp. 5, 334–338. Loosely inserted is a printed note reading: ‘This note contains the simplification announced at the end of para. 14, p.247 of vol. 16 of the Journal of Symbolic Logic.’ Self-wrappers (stained).



‘Some concepts concerning formal systems of number theory.’ Offprint from: Mathematische Zeitschrift. Vol. 57, no. 1, 1952.

Octavo (232 x 155mm). Pp. 1-12. Stapled self-wrappers (staples rusted, otherwise clean).



‘On a problem of Henkin's.’ offprint from: Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, Proceedings, series A, vol. 56, 1953.

Octavo (262 x 180mm). Pp. 2, 405-6. Single sheet (a little creased at edges).



‘The diagonal method in formalized arithmetic.’ Offprint from: The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science. Vol. 3, no. 12, 1953.

Octavo (246 x 160mm). Pp. 11, 364-374. Original printed stapled wrappers (staples rusted).



‘Note on arithmetic models for consistent formulae of the predicate calculus II.’ Offprint from: Actes du Xlème Congrès International de Philosophie, Volume XIV, Volume complémentaire et communications du Colloque de Logique. Amsterdam and Leuven: 1953.

Octavo (248 x 157mm). Pp. 11, 39-49. Original buff printed wrappers (discoloured, tail of spine lightly worn).



‘Applications of mathematical logic to various branches of mathematics.’ Offprint from: Applications scientifiques de la logique mathématique, Actes du 2e Colloque International de Logique Mathématique. [Paris and Louvain: 1954].

Octavo (250 x 165mm). Printed on rectos only, pp.14, [37]-49-[50]. Stapled self-wrappers (staples rusted, top edge lightly browned).-



‘Remark on complete interpretations by models.’ Offprint from: Archiv für mathematische Logik und Grundlagenforschung. Vol. 2, 1954.

Octavo (232 x 153mm). Pp. 6, 84-89. Original tape-backed plain self wrappers, bound in such a way as to cover over the adjacent text on recto of first leaf and verso of final leaf. Provenance: publisher’s ink offprint stamp on upper cover.



‘Models, Translations and Interpretations.’ Offprint from: Studies in Logic and the Foundations of Mathematics. Vol. 16, 1955.

Octavo (240 x 160mm). Pp. 25, 26-50. Original blue printed stapled wrappers (covers unevenly discoloured, one tiny spot to upper cover).



‘Some uses of metamathematics.’ Offprint in: The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science. Vol. 7, no. 26, 1956).

Octavo (246 x 152mm). Pp. 13, 161-173. Original printed stapled wrappers (staples rusted, upper cover unevenly lightly marked).



‘Mathematical significance of consistency proofs.’ Offprint from: The Journal of Symbolic Logic. Vol. 23, No. 2, 1958).

Octavo (246 x 172mm). Pp. 28, 155-182. Original stapled printed wrappers (a very clean copy).

Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
09.12.2023 12:00 – 17:00
10.12.2023 12:00 – 17:00
11.12.2023 09:00 – 18:00
12.12.2023 09:00 – 17:00
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Buyer Premium see on Website
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.
?>