Edwin Abbott Abbott

Edwin Abbott Abbott was born on 20 December 1838 in Marylebone, England. He studied at the City of London School, where he earned a fine education under headmaster G.F.W. Mortimer. In 1857, he entered St. John’s College in Cambridge, where he excelled in theology, mathematics, and classics. He became a priest in 1863, but resigned his fellowship to marry Mary Elizabeth Rangeley, with whom he had a son and a daughter. At the early age of 26, he succeeded G.F.W. Mortimer as headmaster of the City of London School in 1865, and took his retirement in 1889, after 24 years of service. After his retirement at the age of 50, he committed himself to spending most of his time in writing his theological and literary works. It was in 1876 that he became a Hulsean lecturer.

As a scholar, he produced excellent published works in which his liberal inclinations in theology were very prominent. Some of them are:

1870 'Shakespearean Grammar'
1872 'How to Write Clearly'
1878 'Philochristus'
1882 'Onesimus: Memoirs of a Disciple of Paul'
1906 'Sitanus the Christian'

He also published a book about the life of Francis Bacon, 'Bacon and Essex' (1877) and 'Bacon’s Essays" (1866).

His most famous work, 'Flatland', which was published in 1884, gained popularity among science fiction enthusiasts, but oftentimes this was categorised as math fiction. It has inspired many short stories, novel sequels, and the film, 'Flatland'.

He is also the author of such weighty contributions as:

1892 'The Anglican Career of Cardinal Newman'
1898 'St. Thomas of Canterbury, His Death and Miracles'
1906 'Johannine Grammar'