Scope and Content Note
The cyphering book collection of Nerida F. Ellerton and McKenzie A. Clements spans the years 1666-2021, with the bulk of the material dated between 1764 and 1865. It consists of approximately 550 handwritten manuscripts and accompanying information that document the cyphering (or "ciphering") tradition of mathematics education in North America in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
This collection was accumulated by Nerida F. Ellerton and McKenzie A. "Ken" Clements, professors of mathematics at Illinois State University, who studied modern and historical methods of mathematics education. It comprises the single largest collection of cyphering manuscripts related to North America and contains the earliest known North American cyphering book (EC #1, circa 1666). Cyphering books were created by pre-college students to demonstrate their knowledge of mathematical concepts, or by instructors as educational tools. They were typically written in a highly calligraphic style, with mathematical rules copied out and followed by example cases, moving through topics of progressive difficulty. These books served as reference and instructional tools for students and family members and were often passed down through families. The mathematical problems they contain often reflect local economies (such as land surveying, farming, navigation, and currency exchange), and the volumes frequently include students' drawings and handwriting practice. Several early volumes were reused by subsequent owners as scrapbooks. The cyphering tradition dominated school mathematics instruction in the American colonies and the United States through the 1840s. Later volumes in the collection show the transition to different educational methods.
The majority of volumes are hand-sewn or bound with a variety of cover materials, including fabric, newsprint, leather, wallpaper, and paperboard. Commercially available notebooks began to appear in the early nineteenth century, and are well represented in the collection. Some volumes include contemporary enclosures, such as newspaper clippings, correspondence, wills, or other ephemera. Many additional volumes are accompanied by pages of Ellerton and Clements's online genealogical research pertaining to the individual and family who authored a particular cyphering book. Some handwritten notes by Ellerton and Clements pertaining to mathematical concepts are also included with select volumes.
Ellerton and Clements assigned each cyphering book a number between 1 and 480 (skipping over #249), identifying it by the creator as well as the American colony, state, or territory in which it was created. One volume, EC #460, was created in Allahabad (Prayagraj), India, by an American missionary. Every volume in the collection is accompanied by a copy of Ellerton and Clements's description of that volume from their 2021 Interpretive Reference Catalogue (described above). These "catalogue records" typically include a brief description of the cyphering book's physical condition as well as a brief discussion of the mathematical concepts or curricula followed within. Two volumes not included in the Interpretive Reference Catalogue are listed at the end of the container list.