Éléments de Géométrie, avec Notes. Par Adrien-Marie Legendre. – What Does the Author Affirm about His Own Work?

Abstract

This paper presents a translation of the preface to the first edition of the book “Éléments de Géométrie, avec Notes,” of Adrien-Marie Legendre (1752-1833), published in Paris, 1794, by Firmin Didot. There was a translation into Portuguese of Legendre’s book by Manoel Ferreira de Araujo Guimarães, published in 1809, at the Regia Officina Typografica, in Rio de Janeiro, without the preface. I present and discuss Legendre’s preface, in the year that commemorates two hundred years of the first publication of Legendre’s book in Portuguese. And as we will see, the preface is an answer to the question: What does the own author affirm about his work? Keywords: Legendre. Textbook. Contents of School Mathematics. History of School Mathematics.