KEYNES, John Maynard (1883-1946)

KEYNES, John Maynard (1883-1946)
A Treatise on Probability. London: Macmillan and Co., 1921.
First edition of 'a work of great learning and also an exposition of important original ideas' (DSB), owned by Leon Isserlis, the Ukrainian-born British statistician. Born in Bohuslav near Kyiv in June 1881, Isserlis moved to Britain when he was ten years old. He attended the City of London School and won an open scholarship to study mathematics at Christ's College, Cambridge. Isserlis focused on statistics and probability, and in March 1920 he became statistician to the Chamber of Shipping and remained there until his retirement in 1942. His major contribution to probability theory is Isserlis' theorem, which is particularly important in particle physics (where it is known as Wick's probability theorem), and is also applied to the analysis of portfolio returns, quantum field theory, and generation of coloured noise. Keynes's work on probability was well received: Bertrand Russell wrote, 'The mathematical calculus is astonishingly powerful' (Mathematical Gazette, July 1922).

Octavo (216 x 140mm). Half-title, adverts, early issue without the errata slip often found at 2E3 (faint marginal spotting in pp.165-168, otherwise a fine, clean copy). Original brown cloth (extremities faintly rubbed). Provenance: Leon Isserlis (1881-1966; ink ownership inscription on front free endpaper, marginal pencil annotation on pp.47-48, ink manuscript note loosely inserted with a John Masefield poem on the verso of a mathematical diagram).